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FOUNDED  BV  JOHN  D.  ROCKEFELLER 


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A  STUDY  OF  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF 

.V^■^v.,.,,,.^.:.,■  CHICAGO    -i;:  ,:--,^^':-;;. 


':':  ;•  .>;;.■,":-.  i:-^;;V;.":--  a  dissertation  .         ■  '-  '-':■,■ 

SUBMITTED     TO     THE     FACULTY     OF     THE     GRADUATE     SCHGOL     OF     ARTS 
AND    LITERAIURE     IN    CANDIDACY    FOR    THE    DEGKEE    OF 
.     DOCTOR    OF    PHILOSOPHY 

:        .  .v;V:     (department  of  sociology)  .        '     -   •> 


SY 


THOMAS  JAMES   RILEY 


Return  this  book  on  or  before  the 
Latest  Date  stamped  below. 

University  of  Illinois  Library 


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XTbe  mnivetslts  of  Cblcaflo 

FOUNDED  BY  JOHN  D.  KOCKEFBLLKR 


A  STUDY  OF  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF 
;  CHICAGO 


.A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED     TO     THE     FACULTY     OF    THE     GRADUATE     SCHOOL    OF     ARTS 
AND    LITERATURE     IN   CANDIDACY   FOR   THE    DEGREE   OF 

doctor  of  philosophy 
(department  of  sociology) 


BY 

THOMAS  JAMES  RILEY 


CHICAGO 
1905 


V   'i^- 


PRINTED  AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  PRESS,  FEBRUARY,  1QO5 


I 


-_:^.'-  ^:/-':::H'^-.;;'-:  preface.  :■0■>:/■■•^>^■•^  •':•-■ 

This  book  is  the  result  of  a  study  of  the  cultural  interests  of  Chicago. 
The  commercial,  industrial,  and  sanitary  conditions  of  the  city  are  assumed 
as  given,  and  as  forming  the  basis  of  the  educational,  social,  moral,  aesthetic, 
and  reUgious  life  of  the  community. 

A  discussion  of  all  the  agencies  that  make  for  the  better  life  of  Chicago 
has  been  impossible,  but  it  is  believed  that  those  found  in  the  following 
pages  are  representative  and  fairly  inclusive.  Special  attention  is  called 
to  the  tables  on  Women's  Clubs,  Social  Setdements,  and  Charities,  fovmd 
in  the  Appendix.  It  is  hoped  that  these  may  be  of  use  for  social  and  philan- 
thropic workers,  and  form  a  basis  for  a  complete  directory  of  these  insti- 
tutions.     :•'...;;  ^. ■:•■...• ':  '''■':■'■"..-  ^/'-"..^r'^r-,  "J  ■■)     ■:'■■■ 

It  is  the  author's  hope  also  that  this  conspectus  will  give  an  intelligent 
view  of  Chicago's  endowment  of  culture,  and  furnish  great  cause  for  encour- 
agement to  all  its  public-spirited  citizens.  The  book  is  submitted  also  as  a 
suggested  plan  for  studying  the  higher  life  of  a  great  city. 

■       T.  J.  R.    : 

October,  1904.       '-■■■'[■■'  vv/:;.-"  ■/l^^-'-]'-"-'^-'--. 


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TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


:  INTRODUCTION. 

Chapter  I.    Introdttction      -       ^       «       - ii 

I.   The  Growth  of  Chicago ii 

n.    The  Purpose,  Scope,  and  Method  of  the  Study      -         -         -         -         -  la 

m.   The  City's  Equipment  of  Playgrounds,  Parks,  and  Boulevards       -        -  14 

PART  I.   THE  EDUCATIONAL  INTERESTS  OF  CHICAGO 
Chapter  II.    The  Schools      -:->""•  .^       ......    ig 

I.    Introduction  -         -        .j  ^  ^   -        --         -         -         -         -         -19 

.    n.   Statistical  Statement     --. 19 

m.    Special  or  Noteworthy  Features     -         -         -         -         -         -         -        -21 

I.   The  Department  of  Scientific  Pedagogy  and  Child  Study  -        -     21 

.    2,   Kindergartens  ..        ----..---22 

3.  Provision  for  Defectives — Blind,  Deaf,  Crippled     -        -        -        -     24 

4.  Provision    for    Morally   Imperiled   and   Delinquent  Children;   the 
John  Worthy  School;  the  Parental  School;  the  Juvenile  Court  -        -     25 

5.  Use  of  Public-Sdiool  Buildings  for  Evening  Schools,  Lectures,  and 
Entertainments,  and  for  Vacation  Schools        -        -        -        -        -     27 

6.  Manual  Training,  Household  Arts,  and  Commercial  Studies     -        -    31 

7.  The  Field  Coliunbian  Musetun       'r'       -        -        -  ^     -:       -        -    32 

8.  The  University  of  Chicago        -        -        -        -        -   .     •■    .  -        -     33 
Chapter  III.    The  Libraries  and  the  Press 37 

I.   Libraries ---37 

1.  Introduction    --.----.  -        -        -    37 

2.  The  Chicago  Public  Library    -        - 37 

3.  The  John  Crerar  Library          -        -        -.-        -  -        -        -40 

4.  The  Newberry  Library    -        --        -        -        -  -        -        -41 

5.  The  Chicago  Historical  Society  and  Library      -         -  ir :       -        -    4* 

6.  The  Chicago  Law  Institute  and  Library            -        -  -,   ;    *        -.4* 

7.  The  Library  of  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary  -        -        -    42 

8.  The  Library  of  Armour  Institute  of  Technology        -  -        -        -    43 

9.  The  Library  of  the  Western  Theological  Seminary   -  -        -        -    43 
10.   Community-Consciousness  among  the  Libraries        -  -        -        -    43 

n.  The  Press  44 

Chapter  IV.    Concltjsion  to  Part  I 46 

PART  II.  THE  MORAL  AND  SOCIAL  INTERESTS  OF  CHICAGO. 

Chapter  V.  Civic  Associations  and  Women's  Clubs     -       -       -       -       -  49 

I.    Civic  Associations          ..........  ^ 

1.  The  Citizens' Association  of  Chicago        ...---  49 

2.  The  Civic  Federation  of  Chicago      -        -        -        -        -        -        -  50 


f:\ 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


n. 


The  Municipal  Voters'  League         .        .        . 
The  Legislative  Voters'  League        _        .        _ 
The  Civil  Service  Reform  Association  of  Chicago 
The  Illinois  Civil  Service  Association 

The  Merchants'  Club 

The  City  Club  of  Chicago        -        -        -        - 

The  Law  and  Order  League    -        -        -        - 

The  Municipal  Lecture  Association 
Women's  Clubs    ------- 

Activities  -.---.. 


3- 

;  4- 

5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 

lO. 


I. 


3- 
4- 
S- 
6. 


7- 
8. 


9 

ID, 
II, 
12. 

13 

14. 

IS- 


18 
19 


PAGE 

-  51 

-  52 

-  S3 

-  S3 

-  53 

-  53 

-  S4 

-  S4 

-  54 

-  54 

-  -        -  56 

-  -        -  58 

-  -        -  S8 

-  -        -  58 

-  60 
-        -  60 

-  61 

-  61 
Dramatics     ------------  62 

-  62 

-  -        -  63 

-  -        -  63 

-  -.      -  63 

-  -        -  63 

-  -         -  63 

-  -         -  64 

-  -        -  64 

-  -        -  6s 

-  -        -  6s 

-  -        -  6s 

-  66 

-  -        -  67 

-  -        -  67 


2.   Significance     -        -        -        - 

Chapter  VI.    Social  Settlements 
I.   Residents  and  Workers 
V  2.   Gymnasium  and  Playground  Activities 
Thrift  ----- 

Concerts,  Entertainments,  Lectures 

Clubs  

Classes  


Kindergartens  and  Day  Nurseries 

Libraries       ------- 

Picture  Libraries  -        .        .        -        - 

Civic  Clubs  ------ 

Outings         ------- 

Things  Secured  for  the  Neighborhood 
Other  Special  Features  -        -        -        - 

An  Investment  for  the  Future        -        -        . 

16.  Comparative  Provision  for  Dififerent  Classes 

17.  The  Settlements  and  the  Public  Schools 
Determining  Causes  of  Activities  and  Location 
Co-operation  among  the  Settlements 

20.  As  a  Home  --.... 

21.  As  a  Religious  Institution      -        -        -        . 


Chapter  VII.    Trade  Unions 

1,  Educational  Aspects 

2.  Moral  and  Social  Aspects 


Chapter  VIIL    Charities      -       -       - 

1.  The  Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities 

2.  The  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society 
The  Associated  Jewish  Charities 
Special  ReUef  Societies 
The  Medical  Charities 
The  Care  of  the  Aged 
The  Care  of  Children 
Rescue  Homes  and  Shelters 
The  Care  of  Defectives 


3- 
4- 

5- 
6. 

7- 
8. 

9- 


69 
70 
72 

78 

79 

81 

82 

84 
84 
84 
84 
84 
84 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


*       10.  Legal-Aid  Societies       -    "  -        -        - 

11.  Inadequate  Provision  for  Certain  Classes       -        -        -        -        - 

12.  Prevention  Instead  of  Cure  -        -        -        -        -        *     :■! 

13.  Religious,  Radal,  and  National  Feelings  in  Charity        -        -        - 

14.  Co-operation         -.-------- 

ChapetrIX.    Concxusion  to  Part  II     -       -       -       -       >      . »       .4   ■ 

PART  III.  THE  ^ESTHETIC  AND  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS  OF 

CmCAGO. 

Chapter  X.  The  ^Esthetic  Interests    ------- 

1.  The  City  Art  Commission       -        -        -- 

2.  The  Chicago  Public  School  Art  Society  .        _        .        -        - 

3.  The  Municipal  Art  League  of  Chicago    -        -        -        -        -       z^. 

4.  The  Art  Institute  _..._-_-- 

5.  The  Apollo  Musical  Club 

6.  The  Chicago  Orchestra        .  >        - 


Chapter  XI.  The  Religioxts  Interests 

1.  The  Illinois  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union        -        -        -        - 

2.  The  Young  People's  Christian  Temperance  Union  .        -        -        . 

3.  The  Young  Woman's  Christian  Association     -         -         -        -  ,      - 

4.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  __.__- 

5.  The  Volunteers  of  America     -        -        -        -        -- 

6.  The  Medical  Missions  and  Allied  Charities     ------ 

7.  The  Salvation  Army        ---------- 

8.  Churches  and  Sunday  Schools         -        -        -        -        -        -     ,^ 

Chapter  XII.  General  Summary  and  Some  Suggestions  on  Social  Theory 


PASS 

8s 
85 
86 
87 
87 

89 


95 
96 

97 

97 

100 

104 
104 

106 
107 
107 
107 
109 

"3 

"3 
114 
114 

120 


PART  IV.  APPENDIX. 
Table     I.  Women's  Clubs  in  Chicago 
Table  n.  Social  Settlements  in  Chicago 
Table  III.  Charities  in  Chicago         -       .       - 
INDEX -  *      - 


Inset 

Inset 

127 

13s 


Sl-v 


J 


\ 


I  •. 


•-■•'l 


t  .■- 


INTRODUCTION 


■■•;l 


„  ■■      '•■:•   ^-  /-V    CHAPTER  I.  -■■■■''.^■.rr'.':-- ■ 

;       ,  -     ■        INTRODUCTION.  C  V^  i 

:'      I.    THE  GROWTH  OF  CHICAGO.        :       ;'  -      ;  ^ 

Chicago  is  young.  The  history  of  the  city  lies  within  the  memory  of 
its  oldest  citizens.  One  of  these  was  bom  in  1822  and  has  just  been  retired 
from  active  service  on  the  police  force.  In  his  lifetime  an  Indian  village 
has  been  transformed  into  a  great  metropoUs.  He  was  eleven  years  old 
when  Chicago  was  organized  as  a  town,  and  fifteen  when  the  town  became 
an  incorporated  city.  He  has  seen  the  city  rise  new  and  renewed  since  the 
great  fire  that  swept  away  one-half  of  its  property  only  three  decades  ago. 
He  has  seen  Chicago's  population  grow  from  two  white  famiUes  to  two 
miUion  souls;  its  area,  from  a  fort  and  two  houses  to  two  hundried  square 
miles;  its  thoroughfares,  from  a  footpath  to  4,163  miles  of  streets;  its  drain- 
age, from  a  gutter  to  fifteen  hundred  miles  of  sewers;  its  transportation, 
from  a  portage  between  the  Chicago  and  Desplaines  Rivers  to  the  greatest 
railroad  center  of  the  continent. 

He  has  seen  Chicago  grow  from  an  Indian  trading-post  shipping  twenty- 
eight  bushels  of  wheat  in  1838,  to  the  greatest  grain  and  provision  center  in 
the  world,  shipping  two  hundred  and  fifty  miUions  of  bushels  in  1902.  He 
has  seen  the  estabhshment  of  twenty  thousand  manufacturing  plants,  with 
an  invested  capital  of  six  himdred  miUions  of  dollars,  which  pay  two  hundred 
million  annually  in  wages  and  turn  out  a  yearly  product  of  one  thousand 
million  dollars  in  value.  He  has  watched  over  the  vaults  of  fifteen  national 
banks  and  thirty-six  state  banks  and  trust  companies,  the  aggregate  clear- 
ings of  which  for  the  last  year  were  more  than  eight  biUions.  He  has 
witnessed  the  growth  of  the  biggest  stock-yards  in  the  world,  now  shipping 
more  than  one  thousand  miUion  pounds  of  dressed  beef  alone  each  year. 

All  this  and  much  more  it  takes  to  make  Chicago.  It  is  the  storm-center 
of  labor  disputes.  Here  have  been  the  Pullman  strike,  the  machinists* 
and  building  trades'  strikes,  and  the  anarchist  Hay  Market  riot;  here  the 
incessant  war  between  organized  employers  and  organized  employees. 
Chicago  has  tunneled  the  lake  half  a  dozen  miles  for  water.  It  cut  the 
Chicago  Drainage  Canal  in  ten  years  at  a  cost  of  thirty-five  miUion  dollars, 
turning  the  waters  of  the  Chicago  River  from  the  Gulf  of  Newfovmdland 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.    Such  is  commercial  and  industrial  Chicago. 

But  this  citizen  of  fourscore  years  has  seen  also  the  laying  out  of  sixty- 


%- 


12 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


three  parks  with  a  total  area  of  2,263  acres,  and  the  building  of  forty-eight 
miles  of  boulevards;  he  has  witnessed  the  growth  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-nine  public  schools,  fifteen  high  schools,  many  private  and  church 
academies  and  preparatory  schools,  sixty-three  professional  and  technical 
schools,  and  one  university.  He  can  tell  of  the  dedication  of  seven  hundred 
and  eighty  churches  and  the  opening  of  four  large  Ubraries.  He  has  shared 
the  good  works  of  more  than  a  hundred  pubUc-spirited  women's  dubs, 
of  a  dozen  civic-betterment  clubs,  and  of  eighteen  social  settlements;  he 
may  have  assisted  in  the  ministrations  of  two  dozen  charitable  societies, 
and  directed  the  poor  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  institutions  where  charitable 
care  awaited  them.  He  may  have  enjoyed  the  beauties  of  a  score  of  art 
galleries,  and  the  music  of  as  many  musical  societies.  These,  too,  are  a 
part  of  Chicago.  It  is  these  cultural  interests  that  I  purpose  to  exhibit. 
If  Chicago  has  the  biggest  stock-yards  in  the  world,  it  also  has  one  of  the 
greatest  orchestras.  If  the  former  represents  the  commercial,  the  latter 
represents  the  higher  life  of  the  city.  j 

n.    THE  PURPOSE,  SCOPE,  AND  METHOD  OF  THIS  STUDY. 

It  is  my  purpose  to  bring  together  in  a  somewhat  encyclopedic  way  the 
institutions  and  agencies  in  the  city  that  are  making  for  its  intellectual, 
social,  moral,  aesthetic,  and  reUgious  betterment.  I  hope  by  so  doing  to 
bring  to  the  attention  of  those  interested  in  this  higher  Ufe  a  somewhat 
comprehensive  accovmt  of  the  city's  endowment  of  culture,  to  the  end  that 
they  may  become  more  conscious  of  the  aggregated  culture  resources,  and 
that  the  higher  Ufe  of  the  city  may  become  conscious  of  itself.  It  will  be  at 
once  evident  that  the  comprehensiveness  of  the  subject  and  the  purpose  of 
the  study  impose  certain  Umitations  both  as  to  subject-matter  and  method. 
It  is  impossible  to  include  all  the  agencies  that  make  both  directly  and  indi- 
rectly, or  both  consciously  and  unconsciously,  for  this  higher  life,  and  I 
have  therefore  included  only  those  that  contribute  the  more  directly,  the 
more  consciously,  to  that  end.  On  this  test,  I  have  omitted  the  purely 
commercial  clubs,  but  have  included  the  civic  clubs.  I  have  omitted  certain 
literary  and  social  clubs  whose  objects  are  the  higher  life  of  their  own 
individual  members — purely  mutual-benefit  clubs — and  have  included 
others  that  have  for  their  object  the  higher  life  of  the  commvmity  as  a  whole, 
or  of  some  considerable  portion  of  it.  Furthermore,  the  agencies  that 
are  included  will  be  treated,  as  far  as  practicable,  with  special  reference  to 
their  community  or  public  interest. 

Another  restriction  should  be  mentioned.  In  so  comprehensive  a  study 
those  agencies  in  Chicago  that  have  aspects  common  to  the  same  agencies 


.4' 


INTRODUCTION 


^l 


in  other  cities — e.  g.,  the  public  schools  and  the  churches — ^will  receive  but    :   ,  ^ 

brief,  and  chiefly  statistical,  treatment,  while  special  features  will  receive.  : 

more  attention.     No  subject  can  be  treated  exhaustively.     It  is  impossible    -. 

to  measure  values  absolutely  in  the  things  that  make  up  the  higher  Ufe.  !. . 

Representative  facts  and  probable  results  are  all  that  can  be  claimed  for 

even  the  most  statistical  sections  of  the  paper.    It  is,  however,  not  details,  - 

but  a  conspectus,  that  is  to  be  presented.  '>    ...  -    ;  f  - 

The  omission  of  the  economic  interests  and  the  inclusion  of  the  cultural 
interests  do  not  commit  the  writer  to  any  theory  as  to  the  comparative  value 
of  the  two  classes  of  phenomena.    With  the  question  of  the  relation  of  the 
economic  to  the  cultural  life  of  the  people  I  am  not  concerned  at  present, 
except  in  a  general  way.    To  claim  value  for  one  agency  should  not  be 
construed  as  denjdng  value  to  another.     Common-sense  has  no  difficulty     '    . 
in  drawing  the  line  between  those  agencies  that  are  primarily  economic  and 
those  that  are  primarily  cultural.     This  same  common-sense  does  not  ^ 
hesitate  to  assume  the  inseparableness  of  the  cultural  and  the  economic,  ," 
the  higher  Ufe  and  the  material  life.    The  common-sense  view  of  the  sepa- 
ration of  the  two  classes  of  interests  and  of  their  relation  of  interdependence 
is  the  sufficient  warrant  for  oiu:  separation  of  them. 

One  other  explanation  seems  called  for;  that  is,  as  to  the  meaning  of     . 
what  I  have  called  the  "community-consciousness."    I  have  in  mind  two  ;, 
elements  in  this.    The  first  can  be  illustrated  by  the  folfowing  points  in  the   . 
city's  history:  When  Chicago  made  the  first  tunnel  under  the  lake,  and 
laid  a  two-mile  intake,  it  also  laid  a  second  one  reaching  farther  out,  but 
closed  it  up  to  be  opened  when  the  city  should  have  become  large  enough  to 
need  it.     In  1855  the  city,  seeing  its  future  needs,  decided  to  raise  the  level     : 
of  the  city  seven  feet.    When  it  had  a  population  of  only  two  himdred  and 
fifty  thousand,  it  planned  a  system  of  parks  to  accommodate  one  million 
people;   and  a  Special  Park  Commission  is  now  planning  a  system  bf 
metropoUtan  parks  designed  to  accommodate  a  population  of  five  milUon.     • 
These  things  show  provision  for  the  future.     Such  provision  is  not  for  some   ',- 
individual,  not  for  some  trade  or  industry,  but  for  the  community.    The   ■ 
planning  for  the  future  of  the  city  as  a  whole  is  the  first  element  in  what  I  "= 
have  called  "community-consciousness."    Closely  associated  with  this  ele-     / 
ment,  and  included  in  it,  is  the  planning  for  the  present  needs  of  the  city. 

A  second  element  is  the  co-operation  manifested.     In  this  sense,  co-      '  T 

(^eration  is  the  measure  of  effective  community-consciousness.    An  apt  *  : 
illustration  of  this  latter  element  is  the  provision  whereby  each  of  the  several    . .;  ^^ 

large  hbraries  in  the  city  collects  a  special  class  of  books,  which,  when  Usted     : 
with  those  of  the  other  Hbraries,  gives  a  large  number  of  volumes  in  all  the 
classes  that  the  Ubrary  pubUc  demands. 


14 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


Putting  the  two  elements  together,  that  of  securing  and  planning  for 
the  present  and  future  needs  of  the  city,  and  that  of  co-operation  among 
those  agencies  seeing  these  needs,  we  get  the  content  of  the  term  "group-" 
or  "community-consciousness,"  as  it  is  used  in  this  study.  This  concep- 
tion of  community-consciousness,  the  recognition  of  and  co-operation  in 
the  interests  of  the  community  as  a  whole,  will  frequently  be  used  in  char- 
acterizing the  work  of  the  several  institutions  and  forces  treated  below. 

in.  THE  city's  equipment  of  playgrounds,  parks,  and  boulevards. 

There  are  in  the  city  sixty-three  parks,  containing  2,263  acres,  and  forty- 
eight  miles  of  boulevards.  In  the  tenement  district,  the  river  wards,  there 
are  only  one  municipal  and  five  social-settlement  playgrounds.  In  the 
entire  city  there  are  nine  municipal  playgrounds.  Chicago  is  the  second 
city  in  size  in  the  United  States,  but  the  seventh  in  total  park  area,  and 
the  nineteenth  in  per-capita  park  area. 

The  parks  are  for  the  most  part  too  far  from  the  laboring-man's  home 
for  him  and  his  family  to  walk  to  them,  and  the  street-car  fare  is  too  large 
for  them  to  ride.  One  great  problem  of  the  city  is  to  bring  the  playgroimds 
and  parks  to  the  people.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  greater  need  in  the  interest 
of  good  health  and  morals  than  adequate  provision  for  suitable  playgrounds 
conveniently  located  and  under  the  management  of  trained  directors. 

For  purposes  of  park  administration  the  city  is  divided  into  four  dis- 
tricts, each  with  its  own  park  board.  The  South  Park  Board  is  planning 
fifteen  new  parks,  each  of  which  is  to  have  a  well-equipped  natatorium.  This 
same  board  has  charge  of  the  extension  and  improvement  of  Grant  Park 
along  the  lake  front,  in  which  will  probably  be  located  the  Field  Columbian 
Museum  and  the  John  Crerar  Library.  .      ^  1  I 

A  Special  Park  Commission,  appointed  by  the  mayor,  has  charge  of 
planning  a  large  system  of  inner  and  outer  parks.  This  commission  recom- 
mends the  opening  of  a  number  of  small  parks  and  playgrounds  in  the  more 
densely  populated  parts  of  the  city.  It  has  also  outlined  an  extensive  park 
system  for  parts  of  the  city  now  outlying,  anticipating  the  direction  and 
amount  of  the  city's  growth.  '  I 

Closely  connected  with  the  work  for  playgrounds  and  small  parks  is 
that  of  street-cleaning.  Because  of  the  limited  taxing  and  bond-issuing 
powers  of  the  city,  its  street-cleaning  department  is  inadequate  to  its  task. 
It  is  supplemented  by  about  eighty-five  voluntary  improvement  clubs. 
Each  of  these  clubs  works  in  its  own  locality,  some  of  them  spending  ten 
thousand  dollars  annually.  Several  federations  of  these  clubs  have  been 
formed,  among  which  should  be  mentioned  the  Neighborhood  Improvement 


mTRODUCTION 


n 


League  of  Cook  Co.,  comprising  about  twelve  neighborhood  dubs,  and 
the  Federation  of  Improvement  Clubs,  comprising  about  fifty  ward- 
improvement  clubs.  Other  associations,  working  for  the  physical  improve- 
ment of  Chicago  are  the  Architectural  Club,  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  of  the 
American  Park  and  Outdoor  Art  Association,  the  American  League  for 
Civic  Improvement,  the  Tree-Planting  Society,  and  the  Municipal  Art 
League.  This  last  has  done  much  for  small  parks,  and  against  ugly  and 
obstructing  sign-boards,  and  the  smoke  nuisance.  Its  chief  work,  how- 
ever, is  for  the  aesthetic  interests  of  the  city.  It  will  receive  fuller  treatment 
elsewhere. 


t 


M 


K 


M    . 


14 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


Putting  the  two  elements  together,  that  of  securing  and  planning  for 
the  present  and  future  needs  of  the  city,  and  that  of  co-operation  among 
those  agencies  seeing  these  needs,  we  get  the  content  of  the  term  "group-" 
or  "community-consciousness,"  as  it  is  used  in  this  study.  This  concep- 
tion of  community-consciousness,  the  recognition  of  and  co-operation  in 
the  interests  of  the  community  as  a  whole,  will  frequently  be  used  in  char- 
acterizing the  work  of  the  several  institutions  and  forces  treated  below. 

in.  THE  city's  equipment  of  playgrounds,  parks,  and  boulevards. 

There  are  in  the  city  sixty-three  parks,  containing  2,263  acres,  and  forty- 
eight  miles  of  boulevards.  In  the  tenement  district,  the  river  wards,  there 
are  only  one  municipal  and  five  social-settlement  playgrounds.  In  the 
entire  city  there  are  nine  municipal  playgrounds.  Chicago  is  the  second 
city  in  size  in  the  United  States,  but  the  seventh  in  total  park  area,  and 
the  nineteenth  in  per-capita  park  area.  I 

The  parks  are  for  the  most  part  too  far  from  the  laboring-man's  home 
for  him  and  his  family  to  walk  to  them,  and  the  street-car  fare  is  too  large 
for  them  to  ride.  One  great  problem  of  the  city  is  to  bring  the  playgrounds 
and  parks  to  the  people.  There  is,  perhaps,  no  greater  need  in  the  interest 
of  good  health  and  morals  than  adequate  provision  for  suitable  playgrounds 
conveniently  located  and  under  the  management  of  trained  directors. 

For  purposes  of  park  administration  the  city  is  divided  into  four  dis- 
tricts, each  with  its  own  park  board.  The  South  Park  Board  is  planning 
fifteen  new  parks,  each  of  which  is  to  have  a  well-equipped  natatorium.  This 
same  board  has  charge  of  the  extension  and  improvement  of  Grant  Park 
along  the  lake  front,  in  which  will  probably  be  located  the  Field  Columbian 
Museum  and  the  John  Crerar  Library.  I 

A  Special  Park  Commission,  appointed  by  the  mayor,  has  charge  of 
planning  a  large  system  of  inner  and  outer  parks.  This  commission  recom- 
mends the  opening  of  a  number  of  small  parks  and  playgrounds  in  the  more 
densely  populated  parts  of  the  city.  It  has  also  outhned  an  extensive  park 
system  for  parts  of  the  city  now  outlying,  anticipating  the  direction  and 
amount  of  the  city's  growth.  i  I 

Closely  connected  with  the  work  for  playgrounds  and  small  parks  is 
that  of  street-cleaning.  Because  of  the  limited  taxing  and  bond-issuing 
powers  of  the  city,  its  street-cleaning  department  is  inadequate  to  its  task. 
It  is  supplemented  by  about  eighty-five  voluntary  improvement  clubs. 
Each  of  these  clubs  works  in  its  own  locaUty,  some  of  them  spending  ten 
thousand  dollars  annually.  Several  federations  of  these  clubs  have  been 
formed,  among  which  should  be  mentioned  the  Neighborhood  Improvement 


■\-  ■ 


INTRODUCTION 


1$ 


League  of  Cook  Co.,  comprising  about  twelve  neighborhood  clubs,  and 
the  Federation  of  Improvement  Clubs,  comprising  about  fifty  ward- 
improvement  clubs.  Other  associations,  working  for  the  physical  improve- 
ment of  Chicago  are  the  Architectural  Club,  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  of  the 
American  Park  and  Outdoor  Art  Association,  the  American  League  for 
Civic  Improvement,  the  Tree-Planting  Society,  and  the  Municipal  Art 
League.  This  last  has  done  much  for  small  parks,  and  against  ugly  and 
obstructing  sign-boards,  and  the  smoke  nuisance.  Its  chief  work,  how- 
ever, is  for  the  aesthetic  interests  of  the  city.  It  will  receive  fuller  treatment 
elsewhere. 


t 


t* 


'...'} 


PART  I 


THE  EDUCATIONAL  INTERESTS  OF  CHICAGO 


.pq.m,jii  iiMuuw-Pi , 


»iiw.ii  fip!""PBW!"!»"?9!?^i5f"  m'  >    '»  ■  '".  ^''■'■ppiPPiPW^^  ■  J.I.  vfiii.'mv 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  SCHOOLS. 

I.    INTRODUCTION. 

Having  indicated  the  limitations  of  the  subject-matter  to  be  treated, 
and  the  method  and  purpose  of  the  study,  I  shall  now  present  the  agencies 
whose  chief  value  is  found  in  the  educational  life  of  the  city.  This  section 
will  be  divided  into  three  parts — the  schools,  the  libraries,  and  the  press. 
The  first  will  be  presented  in  a  statistical  statement,  and  then  special  or 
noteworthy  features  in  connection  with  the  schools  will  be  discussed. 

The  supreme  effort  of  any  state  in  the  interest  of  order,  progress,  or 
righteousness  should  be  the  education  of  its  youth.  The  laws  of  mental  and 
physical  development  make  it  necessary  that  certain  general  requirements 
of  subject-matter  and  method  should  be  met.  The  experience  of  a  hun- 
dred communities  proves  that  the  education  of  its  young  people  cannot  be 
left  entirely  to  the  home;  for  there  it  is  often  neglected,  sometimes  degraded, 
and  many  times  incomplete.  So  well  have  the  American  communities 
learned  this  that  compulsory  attendance  in  a  free  public-school  system  is 
coming  to  have  a  moral  sanction  even  apart  from  its  legal  enforcement. 
The  state,  acting  on  an  eminent  interest  in  its  future  citizens,  exercises  a 
regulating  power  over  all  private  and  parochial  schools.  There  is  no 
interest  of  the  state  more  imperious  and  imperative  than  the  making  of 
good  men  and  women  out  of  its  boys  and  girls.  The  city's  effort  in  such 
heroic  work  contributes  immeasurably  to  its  higher  life. 

The  educational  problem  is  a  difficult  one  in  Chicago.  The  rapid 
growth  of  the  city  as  a  whole;  the  xmequal  growth  of  different  sections  of 
the  city;  the  rapid  changes  in  the  population  of  some  districts;  the  large 
number  of  foreigners  clinging  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  to  their  low  ideals 
of  education  and  standard  of  living,  and  to  their  traditions  of  child- 
employment;  the  large  number  of  factories  where  boys  and  girls  can  enter  as 
soon  as  able  to  work — all  these,  coupled  with  a  severe  economy  in  appropria- 
tions, make  the  problem  of  the  public  schools  especially  difficult.  But  the 
following  facts  will  give  some  conception  of  the  educational  facilities  as  at 
present  constituted,  and  furnish  a  basis  for  the  discussion  of  certain  special 
features  and  tendencies. 

n.      STATISTICAL  STATEMENT. 

The  Board  of  Education  of  Chicago  consists  of  twenty-one  members, 
assisted  by  seven  business  officials.    There  are  a  general  superintendent, 


S*-' 


20 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


two  assistant  superintendents,  fourteen  district  superintendents,  a  super- 
intendent of  the  parental  school,  a  superintendent  of  compulsory  educa- 
tion, and  ten  supervisors  of  special  studies.  1 

There  are  327  public-school  buildings,  valued  at  $30,ooo,cxx>.  The 
budget  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1903,  was  $8,737,153,  of  which 
$6,532,840  was  spent  for  teaching,  supplies,  and  special  schools. 

There  were  in  operation  in  the  public  schools  in  1901-2,  89  kinder- 
gartens, with  an  enrolment  of  8,835,  ^^  average  daily  attendance  of  4,093, 
and  a  teaching  force  of  178.  In  September,  1903,  there  were  opened  118 
public-school  kindergartens,'  with  an  estimated  enrolment  of  11,000;  and 
72  mission,  social-settlement,  and  private  kindergartens,  with  an  estimated 
enrolment  of  7,000. 

In  the  grades  and  high  schools  there  were  enrolled  during  the  school 
year  of  1902-3,  273,800  pupils,  with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  205,422. 
In  private  and  parochial  schools  of  the  same  grade,  88,448  students  were 
enrolled.' 

For  five  months  ending  March  10,  1904,  the  Board  of  Education  sup- 
ported 23  evening  schools,  with  an  average  evening  attendance  of  8,128. 
In  the  summer  of  1903,  6  vacation  schools  were  opened  for  six  weeks  in 
public-school  buildings.  There  were  enrolled  in  these  schools  4,555 
children,  with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  2,704.3 

Special  departments  in  some  of  the  public  schools  are  maintained  for 
deaf,  blind,  and  crippled  children,  in  which  312  children  were  enrolled. 
These  public  schools  are  supplemented  by  two  private  ones.  I 

The  Juvenile  Court  in  the  year  1903  paroled  to  the  John  Worthy  School 
and  the  Parental  School  and  to  the  probation  officers  1,502  boys  and  222 
girls  as  delinquents,  and  569  boys  and  499  girls  as  dependents. 

There  are  in  Chicago  5  theological  schools,^  employing  64  professors 
and  instructors,  enrolling  644  students,  and  graduating  113;  5  law  schools, 
with  158  professors  and  instructors,  869  students,  and  195  graduates;  7 
medical  schools,  with  430  professors  and  instructors,  2,694  students,  and 
618  graduates;  3  dental  schools,  with  83  professors  and  instructors,  and  385 
graduates;  3  pharmacy  schools,  with  30  professors  and  instructors,  364 
students,  and  100  graduates;  and  23  training  schools  for  nurses,  in  connec- 
tion with  as  many  hospitals,  having  641  students  and  208  graduates. 

•  Chicago  Kindergarten  Club  Report,  1903-4. 

■  Largely  estimated.    Report  of  the  CommissioDer  of  Education,  igoa. 
'  Chicago  Sunday  Tribune,  March  30,  1904. 

*  The  statistics  concerning  the  professional  and  technical  schools  and  the  church  colleges  are  com- 
piled from  the  Report  of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education,  1902. 


M 


THE  SCHOOLS  21 

There  are  lo  business  colleges,  with  89  teachers  and  5,641  students;  i 
school  of  technology,  with  43  teachers  and  1,347  students;  4  manual-training 
and  industrial  schools,  with  86  teachers  and  2,528  students;  i  normal 
school,  with  65  teachers  and  500  students;  7  kindergarten  training  schools, 
with  more  than  60  instructors  and  225  pupils. 

There  are  2  chiirch  colleges,  employing  38  professors  and  instructors, 
and  enrolling  543  students.    There  is  i  large  university,  the  University  of 

Chicago,  with  a  teaching  force  of  323  and  a  student  body  of  4,550.' 

-.  ■  ■ ''  ■ 

m.      SPECIAL  OR  NOTEWORTHY  FEATURES.  \ 

The  foregoing  statistical  statement  presents  the  more  or  less  permanent  ■ 

endowment  of  educational  interests  in  the  city.     It  includes  a  brief  state- 
ment of  some  institutions  and  developments  that,  because  of  some  special  \  ' 
or  noteworthy  features,  require  further  treatment.  ; 

I.  The  Department  0}  Scientific  Pedagogy  andChild  Study. — This  depart-  j 

ment  was  organized  by  the  Board  of  Education  in  1900.  The  phenomena 
of  child-growth  have  been  scientifically  studied,  and  tabulations  have  pro- 
gressed far  toward  determining  norms  for  height,  sitting  height,  weight, 
endmrance,  and  vital  capacity  of  both  sexes  between  the  ages  of  four  and 
twenty  years.  The  department  has  verified  under  scientific  control  the 
striking  parallelism  between  physical  growth  and  mental  development  that 
practical  experience  has  been  forcing  upon  the  attention  of  teachers  and 
physicians  in  recent  years.  It  has  emphasized,  in  the  convincing  way 
demanded  by  the  scientific  mind  of  today,  the  necessity  of  more  careful 
classification  of  pupils  through  a  wider  range  of  differences;  it  has  recom- 
mended greater  elasticity  of  curriculum,  larger  combination  of  hand  and 
brain  development,  and  a  more  extensive  use  of  audito-visual  methods  of 
teaching.  -      1         /     .  :-'■':.'' 

The  department  declares  that  there  is  a  correspondence  between 
physical  superiority  and  mental  power,  and  a  concomitance  between 
physical  inferiority  and  mental  dullness.  It  has  come  to  the  conclusion 
that,  with  children,  a  high,  symmetrical  intellectual  development  is  likely 
to  be  attained  only  where  there  is  approach  to  physical  perfection. 

It  has  called  attention  through  systematic  observation  to  the  great 
importance  of  the  period  of  puberty  in  the  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral 
life  of  the  child.  Because  of  the  great  physical,  intellectual,  and  emotional 
activity  of  this  period,  the  individual  variations,  both  above  and  below  the 
average,  are  most  marked.  It  is  at  this  age  that  the  weak  fall  behind  and 
the  strong  forge  to  the  front.  Because  of  this  wide  variation  in  pupils  at 
this  age,  the  curriculum  for  the  corresponding  years  shovdd  be  very  elastic. 

'  Those  departments  of  Northwestern  University  that  are  not  within  the  city  are  not  included  in  the 
above  statement. 


■mr:  •"  T  -iTi, '  ip.ii"   .  I  iji^aiiia. 


W' 


aa 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


Others  results  from  this  department  that  indicate  its  further  practical 
value  may  be  mentioned.  By  testing  the  comparative  hearing  power  of  the 
right  and  left  ears  of  a  pupil,  and  the  hearing  power  of  different  pupils,  a 
better  seating  of  the  students  in  the  room  has  been  obtained,  to  the  benefit 
of  both  teacher  and  pupil.  The  discovery  of  defects  in  the  child  has  been 
made  of  value  to  child  and  parents  through  the  advisory  work  of  the 
department.  It  is  believed  that,  if  the  findings  of  the  department  are  put 
into  effect  with  reference  to  the  physical  condition  of  the  pupils,  and  a 
wider  and  more  careful  classification,  especially  of  those  not  normal,  is 
made,  the  result  will  be  better  work  more  easily  done,  and  a  lessening  of 
truancy  and  the  evils  closely  following  upon  it.  The  methods  of  the 
department  are  such  as  command  the  confidence  of  oflScers  and  teachers, 
and  cannot  but  vindicate  its  work  to  the  taxpayers. 

2.  Kindergartens. — The  kindergarten  movement  in  Chicago  is  a  develop- 
ment worthy  of  special  notice.  For  several  years  previous  to  1899  kinder- 
gartens had  been  maintained  in  connection  with  the  public  schools  of 
Chicago  without  legalized  action.  But  in  April,  1899,  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion was  authorized  by  a  vote  of  the  citizens  of  Chicago,  to  "establish,  in 
connection  with  the  public  schools  of  Chicago,  kindergartens  for  the 
instruction  of  children  between  the  ages  of  four  and  six  years."  | 

According  to  the  report  of  the  superintendent  of  education  for  the 
school  year  ending  June  30,  1902,  there  were  in  the  pubUc  schools  89  kin- 
dergartens, having  an  enrolment  of  8,835  ^.nd  an  average  daily  attendance 
of  4,093,  under  the  training  of  178  teachers.  In  September,  1903,  there 
were  in  the  pubUc  schools  118  kindergartens,^  with  an  estimated  enrolment 
of  11,000.  The  superintendent  of  the  city  schools  calls  attention  to  the 
fact  that  as  yet  most  of  the  pubUc-school  kindergartens  have  been  opened 
in  communities  where  the  need  is  not  so  great  as  it  is  in  many  others.*  In 
the  crowded  non-English-speaking  quarters  the  children  go  from  their 
mothers'  arms  to  the  sidewalk,  street,  and  alley.  On  such  unwholesome 
playground  the  body  is  dwarfed,  the  intellect  stunted,  and  the  emotional 
life  tempted  astray.  The  kindergarten  would  help  to  keep  these  children 
from  the  street  and  give  them  wholesome  conditions  of  growth,  for  body, 
mind,  and  soul.  To  save  the  child  from  those  things  that  are  bad  and  ugly 
and  hurtful,  and  to  those  things  that  are  good  and  beautiful  and  helpful, 
is  part  of  the  mission  of  the  kindergarten.  These  little  people  of  the  street 
in  the  crowded  foreign  quarters  would  not  only  have  more  wholesome 
life  for  the  tender  years  from  four  to  six,  but  they  would  have  learned 
at  least  as  much  of  the  EngUsh  language  as  they  now  learn  in  the  year  from 

'  Yearbook  of  the  Chicago  Kindergarten  Club,  1903-4. 

*  The  Report  for  1902-3,  just  published,  shows  that  19  kindergartens  have  been  opened  in  these 
iU-favored  sections. 


THE  SCHOOLS  23 

six  to  seven,  their  first  year  in  public  school;  and  thus  one  year  of  schooling 
woiild  be  added  to  their  course,  cut  all  too  short  by  the  economic  demands 
in  their  impoverished  homes.  The  kindergarten  would  thus  furnish  these 
children  with  a  better  education,  and  better  ideals  and  morals,  and  the  dty 
with  better  citizens. 

Attention  is  also  called  to  the  fact  that  twice  as  many  children  could  be 
acconunodated  if  the  school  buildings  were  opened  for  an  afternoon  session, 
with  only  a  small  increase  in  the  cost  of  teaching.^ 

The  pubUc-school  kindergartens  are  supplemented  by  a  large  number 
of  private  ones.  There  were  opened  in  September,  1903,  33  mission  and 
settlement  kindergartens,'  and  39  other  private  ones,  72  in  all,  having  an 
estimated  enrolment  of  7,000. 

Such  a  large  place  has  been  given  the  kindergartens  in  the  public-school 
system,  the  need  for  them  is  so  great,  so  many  reliable  voluntary  associations 
and  private  individuals  are  maintaining  them,  and  so  effective  are  the  seven 
kindergarten  training  schools,  that  the  future  of  the  movement  seems 
seciure.  Among  the  voluntary  associations  that  foster  the  kindergartens 
the  Chicago  Kindergarten  Club'  shoiild  be  mentioned.  The  club  was 
organized  in  1883,  and  now  has  a  membership  of  142.  Its  members  must 
be  graduates  from  a  training  course  of  at  least  fifteen  months,  or  of  experi- 
ence accepted  as  equivalent,  and  are  united  for  "mutual  benefit  and  united 
effort  toward  a  better  xmderstanding  of  the  true  principles  of  education." 
The  club  has  recently  voiced  co-operation  and  sympathy  with  the  child- 
labor  reform  bill,  and  has  contributed  to  the  Chicago  Orchestra  Fund  and 
the  vacation  schools. 

The  presence  of  the  large  niunber  of  voluntary  associations^  that  are 
intelligently  encouraging  and  supporting  these  private  kindergartens  is 
quite  significant.  Their  aim,  on  the  methodological  side,  is  to  make  these 
kindergartens  integral  parts  of  the  pubhc-school  system;  and,  on  the  ideal 
side,  the  good  of  the  child,  the  assistance  and  comfort  of  the  home,  and  the 
betterment  of  the  present  and  future  of  Chicago. 

In  this  connection  should  be  mentioned  the  increased  place  given  to 
commimity  authority  over  the  child  during  the  years  formerly  considered 
reserved  for  home  training  alone.  Kindergartens  would  extend  public- 
school  authority  down  to  the  fourth  year  of  the  child's  life.  Day  nurseries, 
of  which  there  are  13  in  the  city,^  accommodating  from  300  to  400  httie 
ones  per  day,  wovdd  extend  community  care  to  still  younger  years.     These 

'  Most  of  the  kindergartens  now  have  two  sessions  per  day. 

•  Ibid.  1  Mary  L.  Sheldon,  president,  672  W.  Adams  street. 

*  See  Appendix,  Table  I,  "Women's  Clubs,"  and  Table  II,  "Sodal  Settlements." 
5  See  Appendix,  Table  III,  "Charities." 


^F»*  I  v*vw^^i|^n_^iiiiF 


.., 


24 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


day  nurseries  are  wholesome  places  where  any  child  under  school  age  may 
be  kept  during  the  hours  when  the  mother  must  be  gone  from  the  home  for 
work.  They  provide  desirable  playrooms,  give  wholesome  food,  and  keep 
the  children  safe  from  the  street.  The  mothers  pay  a  small  fee,  usually 
10  cents  per  day  for  one  child,  and  5  cents  additional  for  each  brother  or 
sister.  These  charges  save  the  families  from  the  stigma  of  receiving  charity, 
but  are  not  sufl&cient  to  support  the  nurseries,  which  must,  therefore,  ask 
aid  from  the  community.*  j 

3.  Provision  for  defectives — blind,  deaf,  crippled. — The  three  classes  of 
defective  children  indicated  have  long  been  differentiated  from  normal 
children.  But  in  the  light  of  the  classifications  formed  by  the  child-study 
department,  and  the  recommendations  of  other  special  students  of  child- 
growth  and  psychology,  these  three  seem  to  be  only  the  more  evident 
classes  of  the  other-than-normal  children.  AU  kinds  of  variations  from 
the  normal  child  are  receiving  careful  study,  certain  new  classes  are  being 
defined,  and  the  practical  problem  of  special  accommodations  for  them  is 
engaging  the  mind  of  superintendent  and  school  board. 

At  one  time  it  was  considered  to  the  profit  of  society  to  leave  all  children 
that  were  defective  to  die  of  exposure.  At  another  time  the  good  of  society 
was  believed  to  be  conserved  when  such  children  were  supported  by  the 
charity  of  the  group.  At  present  the  opinion  is  that  the  best  interests  of 
the  child  and  the  rest  of  society  are  to  be  served  only  as  the  child  becomes 
a  self-supporting  and  self-respecting  member  of  the  community.  Though 
formerly  it  was  considered  well  to  carry  the  child's  burden,  it  seems  far 
better  at  present  to  prevent  the  chUd's  becoming  a  burden  by  making  it 
able  to  support  itself.  By  inteUigent  appreciation  of  and  ministering  to 
the  needs  of  bUnd,  deaf,  and  crippled  children,  the  community  not  only 
makes  the  child  able  to  earn  its  own  living,  and  enriches  the  joy  of  its  life, 
but  also  elevates  the  moral  tone  of  such  members.  [ 

Reasonable  progress  has  been  made  in  providing  for  defective  children 
in  the  public  schools  of  the  city.  There  were  maintained  dxuing  the 
school  year  ending  June  30,  1902,  in  13  different  buildings,  23  classes  for 
the  deaf,  with  an  enrolment  of  192  and  an  average  daily  attendance  of  148. 
In  3  public-school  buildings  there  were  3  special-  rooms  where  21  bUnd 
children  were  taught.  In  2  pubUc-school  buildings  were  maintained  as 
many  schools  for  crippled  children,  with  an  enrolment  of  99  and  a  teaching 
force  of  4. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  kindergarten,  so  in  the  case  of  public  schools  for 
defectives,  we  find  some  supplementary  schools"  and  voluntary  societies. 

•See  Appendix,  Table  I,  "Women's  Clubs,"  and  Table  II,  "Sodal  Settlements." 
•  See  also  "Vacation  Schools,"  p.  30. 


THE  SCHOOLS  2$ 

There  are  2  homes^  for  deaf  children.  The  work  for  the  deaf  has  been 
greatly  assisted  by  the  Little  Deaf  Child's  League*  in  contributing  money 
and  molding  public  opinion.  There  is  also  one  private  school  for  crippled 
children  that  accommodates  40  persons. 

4.  Provision  jar  morally  imperiled  and  delinquent  children — the  John 
Worthy  School,  the  Parental  School,  and  the  Juvenile  Court.^ — The  John 
Worthy  School*  is  intended  for  boys  who  may  Uve  in  any  part  of  the  city. 
They  are  admitted  on  certificate  of  certain  quaUfications  and  enrolled  for 
various  lengths  of  time.  The  school  work  is  of  an  elementary  grade,  con- 
sisting of  "simple  industrial  work  along  the  lines  of  invential  construc- 
tion, basketry,  elementary  designing,  and  clay-modeUng."  Fully  equipped 
printing  and  shoe  departments  have  been  introduced.  The  school  is  aflSli- 
ated  with  the  Juvenile  Court,  and  in  the  first  three  years  of  the  latter's 
operation  enrolled  on  its  certificate  2,000  boys,  of  whom  16  per  cent,  failed 
in  the  final  test  and  had  to  take  the  course  again.  The  superior  quality 
of  the  educational  advantages  and  methods  of  this  school  are  evident  when 
it  is  remembered  that  for  corresponding  institutions  in  which  the  educational 
features  are  not  so  strongly  emphasized  from  40  to  50  per  cent,  fail  and 
have  to  take  the  work  over  again. 

The  Parental  School^  is  intended  for  another  class  of  boys  who  have 
found  the  usual  public  school  unattractive  or  uncongenial,  and,  having 
come  under  the  observation  of  those  especially  charged  with  the  educa- 
tional interests  and  good  morals  of  the  city's  future  citizens,  are  prevailed 
upon  to  attend  the  new  Parental  School  opened  in  January,  1902.  The 
work  in  this  school  is  especially  designed  to  overcome  the  dislikes  con- 
tracted by  the  boys  for  the  usual  pubhc  school  and  its  studies,  and  closely 
resembles  that  of  the  John  Worthy  School.  In  connection  with  the  Pa- 
rental School,  however,  there  is  a  farm  of  50  acres,  offering  exceptional 
advantages  in  out-of-door  occupations.  Thus  far  an  average  term  of  four 
months  of  this  interesting  work,  together  with  the  ideals  and  ambitions 
encouraged,  has  so  interested  the  boys  that  they  have  returned  to  their 
respective  local  schools  with  an  interest  that  keeps  them  in  attendance. 
Of  the  90  boys  excused  to  go  to  their  own  neighborhood  schools  during 
the  first  six  months  of  the  school's  operation,  only  6  lost  their  interest  and 
returned  to  the  Parental  School  for  its  renewal. 

'  Appendix,  Table  III,  "Charities." 

'  Mrs.  L.  D.  Doty,  president,  6030  Kimbark  avenue. 

3  The  writer  conceives  these  institutions  chiefly  as  schools.  The  terminology  will  therefore  be  that 
of  schools  as  far  as  practicable. 

4  John  J.  Sloan,  superintendent,  S.  California  avenue  and  W.  Twenty-sixth  street. 
i  Thomas  McQueary,  superintendent,  W.  Burwin  street  and  St.  Louis  avenue. 


?.  '  ;,f.'».'Ji'P)m"l.^.  ^'-'n^^t-"?»"-?«^^»^'«^!W«1fWm^W!7^»»»)W^  —"^IIUW 


wfpwr- 


26  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

A  striking  feature  in  both  these  schools  is  the  preponderant  amount  of 
manual-training  work.  j 

A  third  very  promising  school  for  restraining  and  reclaiming  from  the 
evil  of  ignorance,  low  ideals,  and  vitiating  associations  is  what,  in  the 
terminology  of  the  sphere  in  which  it  originated,  is  called  the  Juvenile 
Court.  The  name  as  well  as  the  conception  of  this  school  comes  from  the 
legal  profession,  which,  in  its  administrations,  saw  the  sad  results  of  neglected 
education  on  the  part  of  so  many  yoimg  people,  especially  in  great  cities. 
This  institution  is  designed  especially  in  the  interest  of 

any  child  who  for  any  reason  is  destitute,  or  homeless,  or  abandoned;  or  depend- 
ent upon  the  public  for  support;  or  has  not  proper  parental  care  or  guardianship; 
or  who  habitually  begs  or  receives  alms;  ....  or  whose  home,  by  reason  of 
neglect,  cruelty,  or  depravity  on  the  part  of  its  parents,  guardian,  or  other  person 
in  whose  charge  it  may  be,  is  an  unfit  place  for  such  a  child;  and  any  child  imder 
the  age  of  ten  years  who  is  fovmd  begging,  peddling,  or  selling  any  article,  or 
singing  or  playing  any  musical  instrument  upon  the  streets,  or  giving  any  public 
entertainment,  or  who  accompanies  or  is  used  in  aid  of  any  person  so  doing;  also, 
any  child  under  the  age  of  sixteen  who  violates  any  law  of  this  state,  or  ordinance 
of  any  city  or  village;  or  who  is  incorrigible;  or  who  knowingly  associates  with 
thieves,  vicious  or  immoral  persons;  or  who  is  growing  up  in  idleness  or  crime. 

The  supervisor  of  this  school  is,  in  Illinois,  one  of  the  judges  of  the 
Circuit  Court,  and  combines  in  himself  the  duties  of  judge,  superintendent, 
and  parent.  He  has  under  him  i  chief  supervisor  and  17  assistants,  each 
of  whom  has  charge  of  a  district,  and  whose  duties  are  to  visit  in  their 
homes  and  schools  the  children  who  are  assigned  to  them  by  the  super- 
intendent. There  are  a  large  number  of  other  workers,  some  of  whom 
give  all  their  time  to  the  work  of  the  school,  while  others  give  occasional 
assistance.  If  in  the  opinion  of  the  superintendent  the  child  shovdd  not 
remain  in  its  home,  it  is  sent  to  one  of  the  special  schools  mentioned  above, 
to  some  other  approved  public  or  private  school,  or  to  some  approved  private 
home  under  the  supervision  of  an  assistant  superintendent. 

This  school  acts  upon  the  fundamental  principle  that  the  child's  envi- 
ronment and  physical  condition  are  inseparably  bound  up  with  his  char- 
acter. It  is  the  legalized  embodiment  of  the  old  adage  that  an  oimce  of 
prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure;  it  takes  under  its  training  the  child 
who  is  likely  to  become  dependent  or  delinquent  without  waiting  for 
the  evil  bent  to  run  its  course.  The  institution  was  organized  in  Chicago 
in  July,  1899.^     In  the  year  1903  this  school  had  under  its  management 

"  Juvenile  Court  laws  have  been  passed  in  sixteen  states  of  the  Union:  Illinois,  Pennsylvania,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  Indiana,  Missouri,  Maryland,  Colorado,  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  Kansas, 
California,  Conneaicut,  Minnesota,  Louisiana,  and  Ohio. 


«^ 


^wj^iv'H  I. .  i;iPS«.w'«.V*.'-  ^ ■*'!Wi'  '  '  •'■I'V'-.IJ^-  WW  «.  ■■P'P^lJ 


THE   SCHOOLS  *7 

1,586  boys  and  231  girls  belonging  to  Class  B,  called  in  legal  terms  "delin- 
quents;" and  606  boys  and  519  girls  belonging  to  Class  A,  called  in  legal 
terms  "dependents." 

In  addition  to  the  superintendent  and  his  chief  assistant,  there  are  17 
district  officers,  each  having  one  or  more  helpers,  making  in  all  41  workers. 
These  oflScers  are  appointed  by  the  Circuit  Court,  but,  with  certain  excep- 
tions, no  provision  has  been  made  by  the  state  for  their  pay.  Here  is  an  • 
opportunity  that  several  voluntary  associations'  have  seized,  and  they  are 
supporting  these  officers.  Nineteen  such  are  supported  by  private 
organizations,  clubs,  settlements,  and  churches. 

5.  Use  oj  public-school  buildings  }or  evening  schools,  lectures  and 
entertainments,  and  jar  vacation  schools. — Another  noteworthy  develop-  . 
ment  in  the  school  system  of  the  city  is  the  larger  use  of  the  public-school 
buildings  after  school  hours  and  during  vacation  months.  The  evening  . 
use  of  the  buildings  has  taken  the  form  of  free  schools  and  free  courses  of 
lectures  and  entertainments.  The  summer  use  of  the  school  buildings  is 
commonly  known  as  the  "vacation  schools." 

Three  main  causes  have  vmited  to  bring  about  the  opening  of  the  school 
buildings  after  the  regular  school  hovurs.  The  first  was  the  conviction, 
which  has  taken  hold  of  many,  that  the  large  amount  of  untaxed  property 
represented  by  the  school  buildings,  ground,  and  apparatus  was  not  being 
used  in  anything  like  the  degree  in  which  the  successful  business  man  uses 
his  property.  The  argument  took  this  form:  either  tax  the  property  or 
put  it  to  larger  use.  The  second  was  the  increasing  demand  for  the  privi- 
leges of  free  schools  for  those  industrially  less  favored  boys  and  girls  who 
have  been  compelled  to  leave  school  for  the  shop.  This  ambitious  army 
was  reinforced  by  a  large  number  of  adult  foreigners  seeking  the  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  the  English  language  and  enough  of  the  rudiments  of  an 
education  to  make  themselves  of  higher  economic  eflSciency.  The  sad 
results  of  the  lack  of  this  educational  equipment  on  the  part  of  both  these 
classes  were  all  too  apparent  to  intelligent  observers.  The  third  factor 
also  arose  from  the  side  of  need.  In  many  neighborhoods  there  are  no 
public  halls  or  places  of  assembly,  except  those  the  influence  from  which 
is  evil.  Where  can  the  young  people  and  the  fathers  and  mothers  of  such 
neighborhoods  find  a  place  of  meeting  under  wholesome  influences?  Is 
there  no  place  where  the  youth  of  these  ill-favored  quarters  can  go  for 
helpful  and  proper  association  ?  It  is  beUeved  by  many  that  these  ques- 
tions can  be  answered  by  opening  the  schoolhouses  for  evening  lectures, 
concerts,  and  social  gatherings. 

«  Appendix,  Table  I,  "Women's  Clubs."         '    . 


28  THE   HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

These  three  demands — larger  use  of  the  money  invested,  need  of  even- 
ing classes  for  those  unable  to  attend  day  schools,  and  the  lack  of  whole- 
come  social  centers — have  been  chiefly  responsible  for  the  opening  of  the 
schoolhouse  in  the  evening.  This  line  of  social  extension  has  taken  form 
first  in  the  free  evening  schools  of  the  city.  There  were  supported  by  the 
Board  of  Education  for  five  months  next  preceding  March  lo,  1904,  23 
evening  schools,'  in  which  were  enrolled  over  10,000  pupils.  Of  these 
about  70  per  cent,  were  foreign-bom  or  native-bom  of  foreign  parents. 
In  7  schools  alone  there  were  enrolled  6,140  students  of  foreign  birth  or  of 
the  first  generation  removed,  representing  about  40  nationaUties.  The 
demand  for  the  work  was  so  great  that  in  a  few  weeks  after  the  evening 
schools  opened  the  board  increased  the  appropriation  from  $90,000  to 
$110,000. 

The  cosmopolitanism  and  wide  variety  of  needs  make  these  schools  a 
difficult  problem.  The  earnestness  with  which  the  students  work  is  the 
first  guarantee  of  success,  and  the  practical  nature  of  the  instmction  insures 
sustained  interest.  Besides  the  work  in  English  and  the  regular  elementary- 
school  subjects,  there  are  classes  in  stenography,  typewriting,  bookkeeping, 
manual  training,  sewing,  cooking,  industrial  drawing,  chemistry,  physics, 
physical  culture,  French,  German,  and  other  high-school  subjects.  | 

A  part  of  the  increased  use  of  the  pubUc-school  property  is  the  opening 
of  some  of  the  buildings  for  free  lectures,  entertainments,  lyceums,  and 
social  evenings.  The  social-settlement  idea  is  becoming  contagious,  until, 
with  the  encouragement  of  public-spirited  individuals  and  clubs,  the  people 
are  asking  that  the  schoolhouse  be  made  the  social  as  well  as  the  educational 
center  of  the  neighborhood. 

The  Chicago  "Daily  News"  Free  Lecture  Course'  is  a  continuation  of 
the  work  undertaken  and  carried  on  in  a  systematic  manner  by  the  Chicago 
Daily  Record  for  several  years.  In  the  winters  of  1902  and  1903  the  Daily 
News  furnished  216  lectures  in  15  different  school  buildings.  During  the 
year  of  1903-4  there  were  given  216  lectxures  in  15  different  centers,  with 
a  total  attendance  of  about  120,000. 

The  Merchants'  Club,^  in  co-operation  with  the  Board  of  Education, 
supported  the  following  program  of  classes  and  meetings  in  the  John  Spry 
School  during  the  winter  of  1902-3 ;  a  musical  and  operatic  society,  a  literary 
and  dramatic  society,  an  art  society,  a  men's  club  for  discussion  and  neigh- 
borhood improvement,  a  women's  club  for  study  and  assistance  in  the  other 
lines  of  work  carried  on  in  the  school,  a  Bohemian  mothers'  council,  two 

■  The  Chicago  Sunday  Tribune,  March  so,  1904. 

'  The  Chicago  Daily  News,  Free  Lecture  Department,  133  Fifth  avenue.  >  P.  53. 


V 


THE  SCHOOLS  99 

food-study  and  cooking  classes,  two  sewing  and  dressmaking  clubs,  a 
manual-expression  club,  three  boys'  clubs,  and  a  class  in  printing  and 
stenography. 

In  another  center,  the  Washington  School,  the  Merchants'  Club,  the 
West  End  Woman's  Club,'  and  the  Board  of  Education  co-operated  in  the 
following  interests  in  the  winter  of  1902-3:  a  reading-room  for  boys  and 
girls,  with  an  average  evening  attendance  of  40;  stereopticon  lectures  once 
a  week  to  the  night-school  pupils,  and  once  or  twice  a  week  to  parents  and 
others,  with  an  attendance  reaching  600;  a  mothers'  club,  with  an  average 
attendance  of  30.  The  West  End  Woman's  Club  furnished  fourteen  t)q>e- 
writing  machines  for  the  day  and  evening  pupils,  and  machines  for  the 
sewing  school.  The  Merchants'  Club  inaugurated  a  cooking  school,  the 
Board  of  Education  supplying  the  teacher,  with  an  average  evening  attend- 
ance of  25 ;  the  same  club  also  supported  a  choral  society,  under  the  direction 
of  one  of  the  public-school  supervisors  of  music,  with  an  average  evening 
attendance  of  100.  Classes  in  construction  work,  and  in  iron-  and  wood- 
work, were  supplied  with  teachers  by  the  Board  of  Education,  the  material 
being  furnished  by  the  Merchants'  Club.  " 

The  Merchants'  Club  also  supported  a  course  of  free  lectures  and 
entertainments  at  the  O'Toole  School  in  the  winters  of  1902  and  1903. 
Each  course  consisted  of  twelve  numbers.  The  average  attendance  for  the 
season  of  1903  was  300.  The  club  also  supported  for  ten  weeks  cooking  and 
sewing  classes,  having  an  enrolment  of  100  and  a  waiting  list  equally  large. 

"In  the  Ghetto  district,  under  the  leadership  of  prominent  citizens,  the 
residents  of  the  Henry  Booth  Settlement,*  and  the  principals  of  the  schools, 
there  was  formed  in  the  winter  of  1903  a  People's  Educational  League 
that  met  weekly  in  one  or  the  other  of  the  school  halls."  The  character 
of  the  meetings  was  popular  and  educational,  home  talent  being  used  almost 
entirely.  Norwegian  peasant  dances,  Armenian  singers,  and  Russian 
folk-songs  made  these  evenings  so  attractive  to  the  citizens  of  the  community 
that  half  of  those  who  came  covdd  not  be  admitted  for  lack  of  room. 

School  clubs  and  parents^  organizations  have  been  formed  in  connection  ^ 
with  fourteen  of  the  public  schools,  chiefly  in  Englewood.  The  members 
are  divided  into  committees  such  as  those  on  kindergartens,  manual  train- 
ing, domestic  science,  school  decoration,  and  buildings  and  grounds,  working 
for  the  several  objects  indicated  by  their  names.  Of  these  committees  ' 
those  on  manual  training  and  domestic  science  have  perhaps  accomplished 
most.  Much  has  been  done  in  the  way  of  school  extension  by  several  of 
the  principals  in  their  respective  schools. 

'  Appendix,  Table  I,  "Women's  Clubs."  »  Appendix,  Table  II,  "Sodal  Settlements." 


30 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


Vacation  schools. — To  the  child  in  the  crowded  parts  of  the  city,  vacation 
does  not  mean  grass  and  trees;  hills  and  streams;  strawberries,  cherries, 
and  apples;  flowers,  garden,  and  vineyard;  plowing,  sowing,  and  harvest; 
but  long  hours  on  busy,  bare  streets,  on  alleys  lined  by  unsighdy  garbage 
cans,  truancy  from  home,  stolen  rides  and  stolen  fruit.  To  such  a  child 
the  close  of  school  is  a  time  of  peril.  He  fares  more  ill  than  in  the  whole- 
some days  when  school  is  in  session. 

As  there  are  those  who  seek  to  better  the  conditions  of  these  less-favored 
children  through  statutory  regulation  of  conditions  of  employment  and  of 
sanitation,  so  there  are  those  who  seek  to  help  them  by  furnishing  their 
minds  with  higher  ideals  and  nobler  purposes — a  development  from  within. 
Among  these  are  the  supporters  of  the  vacation  schools.  Long  observation 
of  these  children  has  discovered  that  they  are  lacking  in  appreciation  of  the 
beauty  of  nature  and  of  the  cleanliness  of  self  and  surroundings;  that  they 
have  no  development  of  manual  power  or  of  constructive  genius.  Obser- 
vation has  also  shown  that  the  instinct  of  beauty  and  of  workmanship  only 
needs  the  opportunity  of  gratification  and  cultivation.  It  is  especially 
to  supply  these  two  needs  that  the  vacation  school  has  labored. 

The  first  vacation  school  was  opened  in  the  summer  of  1896,  under  the 
maintenance  of  the  Civic  Federation  of  Chicago.'  To  this  another  was 
added  in  the  next  summer.  In  the  following  year  the  chairman  of  the  Civic 
Federation  asked  the  Chicago  Woman's  Club'  to  take  the  initiative  and 
form  a  committee  of  delegates  from  all  the  clubs  that  cared  to  take 
part  in  carrying  on  the  work  of  the  vacation  schools  and  in  securing 
their  adoption  as  a  part  of  the  pubhc-school  system.  As  a  result,  the 
Vacation  School  and  Playground  Committee  was  formed.  This  com- 
mittee raised  $9,000,  and  with  an  appropriation  of  $1,000  from  the  school 
board  conducted  six  playgrounds  and  five  schools,  accommodating  400 
pupils  each.  In  1899,  under  the  initiative  of  the  Chicago  Woman's  Club, 
50  clubs,  represented  by  212  delegates  and  alternates,  formed  the  Chicago 
Permanent  Vacation  School  and  Playground  Committee  of  Women's  Clubs.' 
The  work  has  steadily  increased,  and  the  co-operation  of  the  school  board 
in  appropriation  and  good-will  has  continued.  Two  social-settlement 
playgrounds  have  been  assisted.  In  the  summer  of  1902,  75  clubs  were 
represented  on  the  committee,  $8,243  was  received  for  the  work,  5  schools 
were  open  for  six  weeks,  and  4,555  children  were  enrolled,  with  an  average 
daily  attendance  of  2,704. 

The  departments  for  defective  children  are  a  noteworthy  feature  of  the 

>  p.  so.  »  Appendix,  Table  I,  "Women's  Clubs." 

3  Mrs.  Gertrude  Blackwelder,  Morgan  Park. 


THE   SCHOOLS  V       31 

vacation  schools.  Thirty-five  crippled  children  were  hauled  to  and  from 
the  schools,  and  given  suitable  instruction  and  delightful  entertainment, 
for  six  weeks,  at  a  total  cost  of  $255.*  After  the  regular  session  closed, 
friends  furnished  them  three  weeks  of  deUghtful  outing.  There  were 
enrolled  also  30  children  who  were  deaf  or  bUnd,  at  a  total  cost  of  $303. 
The  effort  is  not  merely  to  entertain  these  unfortimate  children,  but  to 
entertain  them  for  a  purpose.  The  normal  powers  of  the  otherwise  defec- 
tive child  are  so  easily  smothered  in  the  ill-favored  homes  and  haunts  of  the 
crowded  quarters.  These  sliunbering  powers  the  vacation  school  seeks  to 
arouse  and  develop,  some  for  their  cultiural,  others  for  their  economic, 
value;  all  for  the  pvirpose  of  making  a  self-supporting,  self-respecting,  and 
appreciative  member  of  the  community. 

While  there  is  variety  in  the  subjects  taught  and  adaptation  of  methods 
used,  the  subjects  can  be  conveniently  grouped  as  manual  training  and  house- 
hold art,  and  the  methods  may  be  summed  up  as  hand-eye  methods  and 
nature-study.  Boys  are  encouraged  to  make  articles  that  will  be  useful 
at  home  or  in  games;  the  girls  are  taught  sewing,  cooking,  and  millinery. 
All  are  given  physical  training,  art  instruction,  and  music. 

There  has  been  no  lack  of  interest,  and  twice  as  many  apply  for  enrol- 
ment as  can  be  admitted.  The  teachers  not  only  come  in  touch  with  the 
children,  but  to  some  degree  also  get  acquainted  with  the  parents  through 
special  exercises  for  them,  through  mothers'  classes  and  friendly  visits. 
The  Chicago  Flower  Mission'  has  added  inmieasurably  to  the  enjoyment 
and  aesthetic  life  of  the  vacation-school  children  by  the  abundance  of  flowers 
it  has  sent  to  the  rooms  and  thence  to  the  homes.3 

6.  Another  tendency  in  the  schools  of  Chicago  worthy  of  note  is  the 
increasingly  large  place  given  to  manual  training,  household  arts,  and  com- 
mercial studies.  This  increase  has  not  been  confined  to  the  high  schools, 
but  has  been  extended  in  some  degree  to  the  grades.  In  the  year  1902-3 
there  were  maintained  135  manual- training  centers,^  employing  34  teachers 
and  enrolling  15,573  pupils,  with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  15,280. 
The  total  cost  of  maintenance  was  $55,000.  In  this  same  year  there  were 
maintained  also  28  household-art  centers,  employing  30  teachers  and 
enrolling  6,953  pupils  in  cooking,  and  7,840  in  sewing.  The  total  cost  of 
maintenance  was  $29,150.  These  figures  show  an  average  gain  of  about 
one-fourteenth  in  manual  training  and  about  one-ninth  in  domestic  science 

I  Summer  of  1903.  *  Mrs.  Frederic  Dickinson,  president,  26  Bryant  avenue. 

'  In  the  Appendix  in  the  table  of  "Women's  Clubs"  will  be  found  a  column  showing  which  of 
them  assist  the  vacation  schoob. 

*  Forty-ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  Board  of  Education,  p.  65. 


i.^l'mi'fmi^  '•>  •'.•.f",  j^"';i»»p^j»i^i»»^^B- 


^.  <'.m  y,««if» 


32 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


over  the  work  done  in  the  year  next  preceding.    The  Board  of  Education 
has  recently  decided  to  build  a  $500,000  commercial  high  school.  | 

Three  things  seem  to  conspire  to  cause  this  tendency  toward  manual 
training,  household  art,  and  commercial  studies;  the  increasing  realization 
that  the  public  schools  fiunish  to  the  majority  of  young  people  their  only 
school  days;  the  demand  of  method  for  activity  in  learning,  or  of  hand  and 
brain  co-ordination;  and  the  increasing  claims  of  the  spirit  of  industrialism. 

A  review  of  both  the  general  and  special  features  of  the  public-school 
system  and  their  supplementary  agencies'  leaves  the  following  points  most 
prominent:  Changed  economic  and  social  conditions  and  ideals  have 
brought  about  a  change  in  the  curriculum,  in  the  hours  of  free  instruction, 
and  in  the  social  uses  of  the  public-school  buildings;  the  kindergarten  and 
day  nursery  are  a  part  of  the  same  movement  by  which  home  industries  and 
instruction  have  been  taken  over  to  the  factory  and  the  school,  and  by 
which  the  mother  has  been  taken  out  from  the  home  for  her  occupation; 
the  large  r61e  played  by  private  associations  in  initiating  school  extension 
and  supplementing  the  public  schools  is  noteworthy,  while  the  appreciation 
of  the  enlarged  opportunities  by  those  classes  that  create  the  need  is  most 
gratifying.  All  these  are  phenomena  of  growth,  and  suggest  the  essential 
unity  of  the  economic,  educational,  and  social  interest  of  the  community. 

Two  institutions  should  have  special  mention  as  parts  of  the  educational 
endowment  of  the  city,  as  represented  by  the  schools:  the  Field  Columbian 
Museum,  as  supplementary  to  the  public-school  and  college  work,  and  the 
University  of  Chicago,  as  complementary  to  these  same  institutions.  | 

7.  The  Field  Columbian  Museum. — This  museum,  located  in  Jackson 
Park,  is  a  product  of  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition.  The  collections 
are  housed  in  the  Art  Gallery  of  the  "White  City,"  and  were  secured  by 
gift  and  purchase  through  the  foresight,  plan,  and  endowment  of  a  group  of 
members  of  the  exposition  management.  Many  exhibits  of  the  fair  were 
thus  secured  to  the  museum.  The  building  was  formally  opened  to  the 
public  Jvme  2,  1894. 

The  museum  is  open  free  at  all  times  to  school  children  in  actual  attend- 
ance upon  any  of  the  public  schools,  and  to  students  and  teachers  of  all  the 
universities,  colleges,  and  seminaries  of  the  country.  While  striving  to 
serve  these  special  classes,  the  museum  is  designed  to  elevate  and  educate 
all.     It  is  open  free  to  the  public  on  Saturday  and  Sunday. 

There  are  three  separate  functions  of  the  museum:  an  exhibition  of  mate- 
rial, the  publication  of  a  series  of  scientific  bulletins,  and  the  offering  of 

"  The  class  work  of  the  settlements  should  be  considered  in  the  supplementary  agencies.  It  will 
be  presented  in  connection  with  the  settlements  (see  pp.  6i  ff.).  Another  important  supplementary  work 
is  that  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  (see  pp.  109  S.). 


THE  SCHOOLS  ~  33 

courses  of  lectures.  The  material  is  separated  into  two  grand  divisions  by 
an  imaginary  line  running  north  and  south  through  the  center  of  the  dome, 
the  works  of  man  occupying  the  east  half  of  the  building,  and  the  works  of 
nature  the  west  half.  The  subjects  are  grouped  under  the  departments  of 
anthropology,  botany,  geology,  ornithology,  and  zoology,  and  embrace 
collections  valued  at  $3,000,000.  In  economic  botany,  North  American 
ethnology,  and  economic  geology  the  museum  is  especially  rich.  Two 
courses  of  nine  lectures  each  are  regularly  given  on  popular  scientific  subjects 
by  members  of  the  museum  staff  and  visiting  specialists.  About  sixteen 
expeditions  are  made  each  year  to  the  chief  research  fields  of  North  America 
in  the  interest  of  all  the  departments  of  the  museum. 

The  library  of  the  museum  contains  about  30,000  books  and  pamphlets, 
and  receives  currently  about  154  periodicals.  -  A  department  of  printing 
and  photography  has  proved  of  great  value  to  the  institution  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  labels,  negatives,  slides,  prints,  and  enlargements.  The  total  attend- 
ance at  the  museum  during  the  year  ending  September  30, 1902,  was  263,000, 
of  which  23,000  were  paid  admissions.  The  large  increase  of  14,000  admis- 
sions over  those  of  the  preceding  year,  including  an  increase  of  2,500  in  the 
paid  admissions,  and  the  increase  of  650  students  and  teachers,  show,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  director  of  the  museum,  a  remarkable  growth  in  the  popu- 
larity of  the  museum.'  It  has  been  the  observation  of  the  director  that  there 
is  a  marked  increase  in  the  use  of  the  museum  by  the  public  schools,  the 
colleges,  and  the  universities  of  Chicago  and  vicinity. 

8.  The  University  of  Chicago. — The  growth  of  the  University  of  Chicago 
has  been  remarkable.  The  doors  of  the  university  were  opened  October  i, 
1892.  In  twelve  years  the  property  and  endowment  have  increased  from  4 
buildings,  a  few  bare  city  blocks,  and  some  securities,  all  valued  at  about 
$3,000,000,  to  31  buildings,  140  acres  of  land,  65  of  which  surround  the 
original  campus,  and  securities — in  all,  more  than  $17,000,000.  During 
the  first  year  about  900  students  matriculated  in  the  several  departments 
of  the  university,  exclusive  of  the  Extension  Division.  In  the  year  closing 
June  30,  1904,  there  were  enrolled  4,580  students.  Four  things  stand  out  as 
characteristic  causes  and  results  of  this  growth :  large,  constructing,  analyz- 
ing forethought;  generous,  opportune,  reliable  financial  aid;  the  coming 
and  development  of  teachers,  writers,  and  investigators  who  are  authorities 
in  their  respective  fields;  the  cosmopolitan  character  of  the  students,  and  a 
university  grade  and  method  of  work. 

The  division  of  the  year  into  quarters  of  approximately  twelve  weeks 
each  is  a  departure  from  the  conventional  plan.    The  university  is  in  session 

■  The  decrease  of  1,000  in  the  free  attendance  of  school  children  on  pay  days  was  probably  caused 
by  inclement  weather,  according  to  the  report  of  the  director. 


34 


THE  EQGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


with  the  regxilar  corps  of  teachers  and  courses  throughout  the  four  quarters. 

Thus  the  siunmer  quarter  of  the  University  of  Chicago  is  not  like  the 

.1  usual  summer  school,  but  is  a  regular  session  of  the  university.    The  sum- 

1  mer  quarter  takes  on  special  characteristics  owing  to  the  presence  of  large 

J.  numbers  of  teachers  from  public  schools,  academies,  and  colleges,  and  of 

l>  many  professors  from  other  American  and  foreign  universities  who  offer 

courses  during  the  quarter.  ) 

From  its  beginning,  the  university  has  maintained  a  department  of 
extension  work.  This  is  divided  into  two  parts,  the  Lecture-Study  Depart- 
ment and  the  Correspondence-Study  Department.  The  average  number 
of  persons  attending  the  extension  lectures  for  each  year  of  the  decade 
closing  1902  was  about  30,000,  while  1,534  different  courses  were  offered, 
and  715  traveling  libraries,  comprising  25,000  volumes,  were  sent  to  the 
several  lectvure  centers.  In  the  Correspondence-Study  Department,  during 
the  first  decade,  about  3,000  different  students  have  registered;  of  these, 
1,715  have  matriculated  in  the  university  through  this  department. 

The  University  of  Chicago  is  the  second  institution  in  America  to  provide 
a  course  of  training  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  degree  of  doctor  of  philoso- 
phy. Within  this  scope  comes  the  School  of  Education,  founded  by  the 
consolidation  of  the  Chicago  Institute  with  the  university.  It  comprises 
the  College  of  Education,  the  University  High  School,  and  the  University 
Elementary  School.  I 

The  College  of  Education  offers  courses  which  deal,  from  the  point  of 
view  of  pedagogy,  with  the  problems  arising  in  elementary  and  secondary 
education;  courses  which  are  designed  for  the  training  of  teachers  and 
supervisors  in  elementary,  secondary,  and  normal  schools,  and  for  the 
preparation  of  kindergartners  and  other  specialists  in  educational  work. 
It  aims  to  develop  educational  theory  and  to  illustrate  in  practice  educational 
principles.  Its  curriculum  embraces  the  pedagogical  presentation  of  all 
subjects  taught  in  the  kinds  of  schools  last  mentioned  above,  as  well  as 
psychology  and  the  history  of  education.  The  enrolment  of  different 
students  in  the  College  of  Education  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1904, 
was  563.  ■   '  I 

The  work  of  the  University  High  School  and  the  University  Elementary 
School  is  such  as  their  names  indicate,  and  prepares  the  students  for  col- 
lege and  university  admission.  They  are  laboratory  and  practice  depart- 
ments in  the  School  of  Education. 

The  university  has  one  of  the  largest  graduate  schools  in  the  United 
States.  From  the  founding  of  the  university  great  emphasis  has  been 
given  to  the  graduate  schools.     At  present  two  are  organized — the  Graduate 


i 


THE  SCHOOLS 


35 


School  of  Arts  and  Literature  and  the  Ogden  (Graduate)  School  of  Science. 
In  these  schools  are  offered  about  700  courses,  distributed  among  28 
departments.  The  enrolment  in  the  graduate  schools  for  the  school  year 
1903-4  was  distributed  as  follows:  20  doctors  of  philosophy  pursuing 
special  courses,  72  men  and  36  women  who  had  been  admitted  to  candidacy 
for  higher  degrees,  and  552  men  and  330  women  who  had  not  yet  been 
admitted  to  candidacy;  making  a  total  of  1,010  students. 

The  General  Library  of  the  university  is  housed  temporarily  in  the 
Press  Building.  Here  are  located  262,488  of  the  367,442  volumes  com- 
prising the  Ubrary  collections.  The  other  volimies,  together  with  the  greater 
part  of  the  1,287  periodicals  currently  received,  are  kept  in  the  several 
departmental  libraries  located  in  the  different  buildings  convenient  to  the 
lecture-  and  seminar-rooms  of  their  respective  departments.  The  libraries 
are  designed  especially  for  members  of  the  faculties  and  students,  and  are 
such  as  would  be  used  by  them  in  reference  and  research  work. 

Another  special  feature  of  the  university  is  the  division  of  the  usual 
four-year  coxirse  into  two  parts — the  Junior  College,  comprising  the  freshman 
and  sophomore  years,  and  the  Senior  College,  comprising  the  junior  and 
senior  years.  The  title  of  "associate"  is  given  to  the  persons  completing 
the  Junior  College.  The  division  is  based  upon  the  well-recognized  change 
in  the  attitude  and  habit  of  the  student  taking  place  approximately  with 
the  beginning  of  the  third  year  of  college  study,  and  the  generally  adopted 
plan  of  allowing  a  wide  range  of  electives  at  this  same  stage  of  college  work. 
It  is  closely  joined  with  a  further  distinguishing  feature  of  the  university — 
that  of  afl&liated  schools  and  colleges.  This  afliliation  is  of  two  sorts  for 
high  schools  and  academies:  those  which  have  been  found  by  the  University 
of  Chicago  to  be  of  high  grade,  but  which  derive  their  support  from  public 
funds,  are  called  '"co-operating  schools;"  while  academies  that  have 
voluntarily  placed  themselves  under  the  advisory  direction  of  the  univer- 
sity as  to  facilities,  curriculum,  and  educational  methods  are  called  "affli- 
ated  schools."  There  are  also  aflSliated  colleges  that  have  definite  arrange- 
ments of  co-operation  with  the  university.  The  Junior  College  and  the 
group  of  affiliated  schools  are  part  of  a  plan  for  the  development  of  a  real 
university  center,  with  its  preparatory  schools,  in  the  hope  of  increasing 
the  efficiency  of  both  college  and  university  grades  of  work,  and  of  assisting 
in  the  solution  of  the  problems  of  the  small  college. 

The  University  of  Chicago  Press  was  organized  with  the  university. 
It  is  divided  into  a  manufacturing,  a  publishing,  and  a  retail  department. 

The  manufacturing  department  is  equipped  to  do  all  kinds  of  printing  and 


.1  - .  I .  iiMi«!iPin«NV«)*i^"(nv« 


T 


w^ 


36 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


book -making,  with  special  attention  to  the  execution  of  academic  work,  including 
theses,  and  the  reports  of  educational  bodies  and  learned  societies.'  | 

The  purchase  and  retail  department  purchases  library  books  and  laboratory 
supplies  for  the  university,  and  stationery  and  ofl&ce  supplies  for  the  depart- 
ments, and  carries  on  a  retail  book  and  stationery  trade.  The  publication 
department  published  56  different  books  and  pamphlets  during  the  year 
1903-4,  and  289  in  all  since  1892.  It  publishes  regularly  twelve  journals 
or  periodicals  in  addition  to  the  university  calendars,  bulletins,  registers, 
and  reports.  Among  the  most  noteworthy  recent  books  published  are  the 
"Decennial  Publications"  of  the  university.  These  comprise  two  series 
of  books,  published  by  the  authority  of  the  university,  and  at  a  cost  of  about 
$60,000,  upon  the  completion  of  its  first  decade  of  history.  The  first  series 
consists  of  two  quarto  volumes  of  official  reports,  and  eight  quarto  volumes 
of  results  of  investigations  and  research  by  the  several  departments  of  the 
university.  The  second  series  consists  of  eighteen  octavo  volumes  of 
similar  research,  systematic  treatises,  and  unpublished  documents.  Other 
noteworthy  recent  publications  are  The  Code  of  Hammurabi,  edited  by 
Professor  Robert  Harper,  of  the  university,  and  A  History  0}  Matrimonial 
Institutions,  by  George  Elliott  Howard,  professorial  lecturer  in  history 
in  the  university.  The  University  Press  has  also  entered  extensively  into 
the  field  of  religious  education,  to  which  its  most  noteworthy  contributions 
are  the  "  Constructive  Bible  Studies,"  under  the  general  editorial  direction 
of  President  William  R.  Harper  and  Professor  Ernest  D.  Burton. 

»  The  University  oj  Chicago,  a  sketch  by  Nott  Flint  (University  of  Chicago  Press,  1904,  for  the 
Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition,  St.  Louis). 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  LIBRARIES  AND  THE  PRESS. 

I.      LIBRARIES. 

1.  Introduction. — The  public  schools  and  the  supplementary  agencies 
already  mentioned  constitute  the  first  great  endowment  of  educational 
interests  of  the  city.  There  is,  however,  a  second  very  important  educa- 
tional force  represented  in  the  Ubraries.  Such  institutions  minister  to  the 
aesthetic  and  moral  life,  but  for  the  purpose  of  this  study  their  educational 
value  shall  determine  their  classification. 

Libraries  supplement  and  complement  the  pubUc  schools,  colleges, 
universities,  and  seminaries.  They  furnish  the  opportunity  for  gratifying 
the  taste  for  Uterature  and  books  that  these  institutions  develop.  They 
are  valuable  aids  in  investigation  and  research.  They  furnish  a  large  store 
whence  those  whose  schooling  has  been  foreshortened  by  industrial  demands 
draw  large  supplies. 

A  library  is  a  palace  of  the  people.  Here  is  their  armament;  for  the  struggles 
of  the  future  will  not  be  determined  by  the  sword  and  flaming  torch,  but  by 
knowledge,  education,  and  the  ballot.' 

2.  The  Chicago  Public  Library. — The  city  is  provided  with  4  large 
libraries  and  many  smaller  ones.  Chief  among  the  greater  ones  is  the 
Chicago  Public  Library.  The  fire  of  187 1  destroyed  nearly  all  the  libraries 
in  the  city.  A  consignment  of  books  from  England,  collected  by  Thomas 
Hughes,  the  author  of  Tom  Brown's  School  Days,  formed  no  small  part  of 
its  first  collections  after  the  fire.  But  the  library  had  no  permanent  home 
until  1897.  The  ground  for  a  new  building  was  broken  July  27,  1892,  and 
the  comer-stone  was  laid  Thanksgiving  Day,  1893.  On  Monday,  October 
II,  1897,  the  Ubrary  in  all  its  departments  was  thrown  open  to  the  public. 
The  entire  cost  of  the  building,  equipment,  and  furniture  was  about  $2,125,- 
000.  It  is  a  magnificent  structure,  "no  sham,  genuine  and  honest."  Its 
walls  and  panels  of  granite  and  marble,  the  result  of  six  years  of  earnest 
toil  and  thought,  are  the  fit  home  for  the  soul  of  a  great  past  imparting 
intelUgence  and  experience  to  the  living. 

The  accompanying  table'  will  show  the  history  of  the  library  since  the 
opening  of  the  new  building: 

'  Thornton,  address  at  the  opening  of  the  Chicago  Public  Library. 
>  Compiled  from  the  report  of  the  librarian. 

37  :  . 


!^.:, 


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38 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE   OF  CHICAGO 


5 

CmcuLATDJG  Department               | 

0 

s 

g 

H 
>< 

Growth 
EN  Volumes 

Registration 

Totals  for  General 
Library  and  De- 
livery Stations 

Delivery  Stations 

Vol- 
umes 

Acces- 
sions 

At  Gen. 
Library 

At  Del. 
Stations 

Total 

Entire 
Circulat'n 

Daily 
Average 

Volumes 

%  of 
Total 
Circ. 

No.  of 
Stats. 

Cost 
V^. 

1898 
1899 
1900 
IQOI 
1902 
1903 

235.38s 
350,011 
258,498 
273,376 
279.686 
285.087 

18,456 
20,184 
12,911 
21,854 
15,609 
9,110 

18,672 
16,066 
16,838 
16,091 
14,665 
14.571 

21.935 
23.330 
23.371 
24.316 
26,34s 
16,472 

40,607 
39.396 
40,209 
40,407 
41,910 
31.043 

1,346,131 
1,690,904 
1.749.775 
1.772.741 
1,701,540 
1,165,588 

4,620 
5. 53 1 
5.769 
5313 
5.577 
3.872 

744.995 
1,069,031 

1.143.391 

1,164  320 

1,123,406 

622,973 

6^ 
65 
66 
66 
54 

59 
57 
60 

^s 

67 
68 

$2.35 
3. II 
1.70 

1-55 
1.79 
1.66 

Reference  Department 


Reasing-Rooms 


I 

m  ^ 


II 

2:8 


11 
la 

o  o 


J  u  o  a. 

V  <n  O  < 

h  8  €<  H 

5:  h  "  = 


General  Library 


.-22  o  o 


o 


Art-Rooms 


No.  of 
Visitors 


No.Vob. 
Con- 
sulted 


Li  the  Six  Branch  Reading-Rooms 


Aggregate 
Attend- 
ance 


Issues  of 
Periodi- 
cals 

Issues  of 
Books 

393,234 
275.418 
197.832 
190,028 
180,939 
157.247 

114,971 
108,003 
66,131 
76,918 
88,067 
77.440 

1898 
1899 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 


106,386 
110,507 
111,275 
121,709 
117.580 
88,797 


299,967 
301,315 
317.430 
336,103 
311.984 
253.589 


67 
68 
66 
66 

75' 


170 
194 
195 
189 
235' 


6,760* 
8,642 
9.537 
8,668 

8,522 

4.493' 


19,909 
27,612 
32.154 
29.527 
27.947 
15.874 


310.311 
296,113 
207,118 
204,82 1 
197.577 
162,191 


ISS 

158 

82 


The  figures  show  a  striking  change  for  the  year  ending  May  31,  1902. 
There  was  a  decrease  of  6,500  volumes  in  the  number  of  accessions  as 
compared  with  the  year  preceding;  a  decrease  of  537,952  in  the  circulation, 
and  a  corresponding  decrease  in  the  registration.  The  most  striking  loss 
was  in  the  circulation  of  the  delivery  stations,  where  the  decrease  was  over 
500,000  volumes.  This  falling  off  in  the  efficiency  of  the  library  was  caused 
by  the  reduction  in  the  appropriation  for  its  maintenance  due  to  the  operation  of 
the  Juul  law.  The  radical  steps  taken  to  keep  the  expenses  within  the  means 
at  the  command  of  the  board  resulted  in  laying  oflf  one-third  of  the  working 
force  on  May  9,  1902.  The  library  was  ordered  closed  evenings  at  6:30  o'clock, 
and  on  Sundays  and  holidays.  The  branch  reading-rooms  were  closed  during 
the  morning  hours.  The  67  delivery  stations,  instead  of  a  daily  delivery  of 
books,  received  only  three  deliveries  a  week .  The  purchase  of  books  was  restricted. 
....  The  immediate  effects  of  these  retrenchments  was  shown  in  the  circula- 
tion, which  fell  off  about  30  per  cent.*  . 

During  the  following  year  the  same  policy  of  retrenchment  was  continued, 
and  the  result  was  the  remarkable  decrease  noted  in  the  table. 

<  From  9  a.  m.  to  6:30  p.  m.         *  From  October,  1897,  to  May  31, 1898.  >  Closed  six  months. 

*  Report  of  the  librarian  for  the  year  ending  May  31,  1903. 


THE  LIBRARIES  AND  THE  PRESS  39- 

There  are  two  art-rooms  on  the  fifth  floor  in  which  is  a  collection  of 
books  on  fine  art,  the  more  rare  and  costly  books  of  the  library,  and  the 
elaborately  illustrated  works  that  are  not  circulated.  There  is  also  a  grow- 
ing collection  of  books  for  the  blind. 

Some  interesting  items  are  developed  by  a  study  of  the  classes  of  books 
in  circulation  from  the  Ubrary.  The  average  percentage  of  the  total 
circulation  during  the  six  years  from  1898  to  1903  inclusive  was  as  follows: 
EngUsh  prose  fiction,  44.5  per  cent,  of  the  total,  which  class  showed  a 
steady  gain  throughout  the  six  years;  juvenile  literature,  27.4  per  cent. — 
a  steady  increase  up  to  and  including  1902;  history  and  biography,  6.46 
per  cent. — a  gradual  decrease  to  and  including  1902 ;  geography  and  travels, 
3.45  per  cent. — a  gradual  decrease  throughout  the  whole  period;  science 
and  arts,  6.02  per  cent. — a  decrease  to  and  including  1901;  poetry  and 
drama,  1.82  per  cent. — a  steady  decrease  throughout  the  six  years;  mis- 
cellaneous, 2.61  per  cent.;  foreign  languages,  7.71  per  cent. 

An  offer  to  erect  a  branch  library  at  the  intersection  of  Forty-ninth 
street,  and  Lake  and  Washington  avenues,  was  made  the  city  in  1901 
and  accepted  by  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Chicago  Public  Library. 
The  library,  called  the  T.  B.  Blackstone  Memorial  Branch  Library,  is 
being  built  in  Grecian  Ionic  architecture,  of  white  granite  on  the  outside 
and  ItaUan  marble  on  the  inside.  There  will  be  reading-  and  reference- 
rooms,  a  room  for  yoimg  people,  a  circulating  room,  and  a  shelving  capacity 
of  25,000  books. 

Two  incidents  in  connection  with  the  delivery  of  books  from  the  Chicago 
Public  Library  are  significant  and  suggest  greater  possibilities.  A  delivery 
station  has  been  in  operation  for  a  number  of  years  at  the  Gad's  Hill  Social 
Settlement  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  McCormick  factories.  The  local 
librarian,  who  is  a  resident  of  the  settlement,  goes  every  week  to  the  offices 
of  the  factory  and  receives  calls  for  books  from  the  laborers  employed,  and 
also  collects  the  books  to  be  retiuned.  This  is  literally  taking  the  books 
to  the  people  where  the  people  do  not  come  to  the  books.  This  factory 
circulation  reached  1,500  volumes  during  the  year  1903,  which  was  two- 
thirds  of  the  total  circulation  for  that  delivery  station.  A  second  incident 
is  the  opening  of  a  special  delivery  in  the  establishment  of  Sears,  Roebuck  & 
Co.,  by  means  of  which  the  books  are  taken  directly  to  the  men  in  the  shops. 
The  delivery  is  from  the  PubUc  Library,  but  the  proprietors  superintend 
the  collection  and  distribution,  and  furnish  a  wagon  for  hauling  the  books. 
This  is  another  method  of  taking  the  books  to  the  men  that  has  resulted  in  a 
large  increase  in  the  use  of  books  by  the  employees.  It  is  a  practical  sug- 
gestion to  other  employers. 


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40 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


.JlWf' 


3.  7"^e  /oA»  Crerar  Library. — The  endowment  of  this  library  was 
made  in  the  will  of  John  Crerar.  In  December,  1901,  it  was  estimated  to 
be  $3,400,000.  The  library  was  incorporated  October  12, 1894,  and  opened 
to  the  public  April  i,  1897.  The  first  act  of  the  directors  after  organization 
was  to  reserve  the  entire  endowment  for  the  support  of  the  library,  and  to 
decide  that  a  fund  for  the  purchase  of  land  and  books,  and  for  the  erection 
of  a  building,  should  be  created  from  the  income.  In  1903  this  income 
had  provided  a  building  fund  of  $457,084  and  a  book  fund  of  $184,048. 
The  second  act  of  the  directors  was  to  determine  the  character  and  scope  of 
the  library.  After  careful  study  of  the  libraries  of  the  city,  and  conferences 
among  the  trustees  of  the  larger  ones, 

the  special  field  of  the  John  Crerar  Library  was  defined  as  that  of  the  natural, 
physical,  and  social  sciences,  and  their  applications.  It  is  the  purpose  of  the 
directors  to  develop  the  library  as  sjrmmetrically  as  possible  within  these  limits, 
and  to  make  it  exceptionally  rVch  in  files  of  scientific  and  technical  periodicals, 
both  American  and  foreign.' 

It  is  a  non-circulating  scientific  library,  with  a  staff  of  35.  ' 

Temporary  quarters  were  secured  in  the  Marshall  Field  &  Co.  Build- 
ing consisting  of  a  reading-room,  accommodating  nearly  100  readers  and 
shelving  3,000  volumes,  a  periodical  alcove,  two  stackrooms,  and  adminis- 
tration rooms.  It  is  thought  that  the  law  entitled  "An  act  concerning  free 
public  libraries  in  public  parks,"  approved  by  the  governor  May  14,  1903, 
will  enable  the  trustees  of  the  John  Crerar  Library  to  build  a  permanent 
home  for  the  library  in  Grant  Park,  along  the  lake  front.  | 

The  total  accessions  to  the  library  during  the  year  1902  were  13,000 
books,  making  a  total  collection  of  89,219  volumes.  The  library  receives 
1,654  periodicals  currently  and  4,644  other  serials. 

In  1902,  66,512  visitors  were  recorded — a  daily  average  of  213,  and  an  increase 
of  11,684,  or  22  per  cent,  over  1901;  39,606  calls  for  books,  and  12,250  for  periodi- 
cals— an  increase  of  9,922  in  all,  or  23  per  cent.;  1,167  readers  were  admitted  to 
the  stacks — an  increase  of  121,  or  12  per  cent. 

As  in  previous  years  the  rate  of  increase  in  the  calls  for  books  and 
periodicals  is  practically  constant,  but  the  admissions  to  the  stacks  show 
decided  variations.  The  purchase  of  the  Ely  collection  should  have  the 
effect  of  increasing  the  scholarly  use  of  the  library  in  the  department  of 
social  sciences. 

The  accompanying  table*  will  show  the  recorded  use  of  the  library  for 
the  years  1898  to  1902  inclusive,  arranged  according  to  five  classes  of 
subjects: 


'  Report  of  the  librarian,  igo2. 


'  Compiled  from  the  reports  of  the  librarian. 


,     * 


"Vf^rmftff^arwwHIW^ 


THE  LIBRARIES  AND  THE  PRESS  41 

RECORDED  USE  OF  THE  JOHN   CRERAR  LIBRARY,    1898-1902. 


Subject 

1898 

1899 

1900 

Books 

Periodi- 
cals 

Stack 

Books 

Periodl- 

rals 

Stack 

Books 

Periodi- 
cals 

Stack 

General  works. . . . 

Social  sciences 

Physical  sciences. . 
Natural  sciences  . . 
Applied  sciences  . . 

2,792 
2,208 

2,705 
1,622 
6,040 

2,565 

1,153 

363 

148 

2,984 

55 
105 
109 
167 
220 

3,707 
2,760 

3,373 

1,679 
7,371 

2,443 
1,288 

379 

125 

3,778 

130 

133 
306 

190 

258 

4,86s 
3,568 

3,833 
2,251 

9,478 

2,605 
1,616 

579 
114 

3,753 

122 

139 
208 
260 
290 

Total 

15,367 

7,213 

656 

18,890 

8,013 

1,017 

23,995 

8,667 

1,019 

Subject 

1901 

1902 

Books 

Periodi- 
cals 

Stack 

Books 

Periodi- 
cals 

Stack 

General  works 

Social  sciences 

Physical  sciences 

Natural  sciences. . . . 
Applied  sciences 

6,812 
4,761 

5,455 
2,768 

12,397 

3,159 
1,460 

741 

174 

4,207 

107 

97 
199 
292 

351 

8,461 
6,286 

6,157 

3,694 

15,008 

4,399 

1.590 

576 

177 

5,508 

ICXD 
120 
255 

235 

457 

Total 

32,193 

9,741 

1,046 

39,606 

12,250 

1,167 

An  analysis  of  the  use  of  the  library  during  the  year  1902  contains  some 
items  of  interest. 

With  seven  exceptions,  every  subject  shows  an  increase  in  the  number  of  calls, 
though,  as  in  previous  years,  the  increases  are  by  no  means  in  imiform  proportion. 
The  calls  for  landscape  gardening,  industrial  art,  and  photography  have  more 
than  doubled,  and  those  for  political  economy,  astronomy,  and  agriculture  have 
increased  more  than  one-half.  On  the  other  hand,  calls  for  philosophy  and  logic 
have  diminished  more  than  one-half,  and  those  for  bibliography  and  mathe- 
matics about  one-fifth.' 

The  library  keeps  on  file  a  copy  of  its  printed  card  catalogue  in  the  fol- 
lowing institutions:  Armour  Institute  of  Technology,  Chicago  Public 
Library,  Field  Columbian  Museum,  Library  of  Congress,  Northvpestem 
University,  University  of  Chicago,  and  University  of  Illinois. 

4.  The  Newberry  Library. — This  library  has  large  and  permanent 
quarters.  Its  eleventh  annual  report,  issued  for  the  year  1902,  shows  the 
library's  assets  to  be  over  $420,000  and  the  total  number  of  volumes  in  the 
library  to  be  260,773,  comprising  191,501  books  and  62,272  pamphlets, 
maps,  manuscripts,  etc. ;  the  accessions  by  gift  and  purchase  for  the  year, 
7,003  volumes  and  1,947  pamphlets.     There  were  78,419  visitors,  who 

•  Report  of  the  librarian,  1902. 


42  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

consulted  129,493  books.  The  several  departments  are  those  of  medicine, 
bibliography,  philosophy,  public  documents,  art  and  letters,  history,  and 
genealogy.    The  staff  consists  of  26  members.  j 

5.  The  Chicago  Historical  Society  and  library. — The  Chicago  Historical 
Society,  the  objects  of  which  are  "to  institute  and  encourage  historical 
inquiry,  to  collect  and  preserve  the  materials  of  history,  and  to  spread 
historical  information,  especially  concerning  the  northwestern  states," 
was  organized  in  1856  and  incorporated  in  1857.  The  roll  of  members  in 
1903  contained  301  names;  the  six  special  funds  and  the  one  general  fund 
amounted  to  almost  $93,000. 

The  library  is  in  keeping  with  the  objects  of  the  society.  It  consists 
of  about  40,000  volumes  and  7,000  pamphlets,  manuscripts,  etc.  The 
accessions  during  the  year  ending  November  16,  1903,  were  1,329  volumes 
and  3,484  pamphlets,  manuscripts,  etc.;  while  the  number  of  readers  was 
392,  and  of  visitors  2,133.  While  the  number  of  readers  is  at  no  time 
large  compared  with  that  of  libraries  suppl)dng  general  Uteratiure,  the  per- 
centage of  merely  casual  readers  is  very  small,  the  clientele  being  made  up 
of  persons  making  serious  original  research  in  the  field  of  Chicago  and  the 
old  Northwest.  | 

The  field  of  service  of  this  society  and  its  library  is  much  larger  than 
Chicago.  It  contributes  to  the  preservation  of  all  knowledge — a  service  to 
mankind.  Its  local  value  is  chiefly  that  of  education  and  preservation  of 
knowledge  of  the  city,  the  development  of  an  enlightened  civic  pride,  and 
the  refining,  elevating,  and  wholesome  effect  that  the  presence  of  a  body 
of  noble-spirited  and  able  scholars  has  upon  the  community  in  which  they 
live  and  work. 

6.  The  Chicago  Law  Institute  and  library. — The  charter  of  the  Chicago 
Law  Institute  says  that  "the  object  and  intention  of  this  corporation  is  for 
literary  purposes,  the  cultivation  of  legal  science,  the  advancement  of  juris- 
prudence, and  the  formation  of  a  law  library  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  coimty 
of  Cook."  As  yet  only  the  last-named  has  been  accomplished,  except  in 
so  far  as  a  great  law  hbrary  contributes  to  these  several  ends. 

During  the  year  ending  December  31,  1903,  there  were  added  to  the 
library  996  volumes,  making  a  total  collection  of  40,268  volumes.  One- 
hundred  and  twenty-six  periodicals  are  subscribed  for.  The  books  of  the 
library  are  open  to  859  active  members,  72  ticket-holders,  704  clerks  of 
members  under  cards,  164  students,  and  3  honorary  members.  Visitors  to 
the  number  of  216  were  temporarily  admitted  to  consult  the  hbrary  upon 
introduction  by  members. 

7.  The  library  0}  the  Chicago   Theological  Seminary. — ^This  library 


■  »jn^ii.«ij;^ii»iyx«iii!.|^(ww,i  ■■■f       .        ^upmifimmnrmm^tw* 


THE  LIBRARIES  AND  THE   PRESS  43 

aspires  especially  to  perform  a  threefold  service:  to  maintain  the  best 
possible  working  library  for  the  faculty  and  students  of  the  seminary;  to 
aid  the  seminary  alumni  and  other  ministers  by  keeping  them  in  touch  with 
current  theological  Uterature;  to  put  at  the  disposal  of  all  religious  workers 
of  the  city  a  large  reference  library.  The  library  contains  about  23,000 
volumes,  with  a  yearly  circulation  of  3,500.  The  Ubrary  is  used  most  by 
ministers  and  students,  and  consists  chiefly  of  theological  books. 

8.  The  library  of  Armour  Institute  oj  Technology. — This  library  is  con- 
nected with  the  Armour  Institute  of  Technology  and  is  first  of  all  a  part  of 
the  equipment  of  the  school.  It  contains  20,000  volumes  and  receives 
about  125  papers  and  magazines,  chiefly  on  technical  subjects.  The  circu- 
lation of  books,  chiefly  among  students,  is  500  per  month,  of  which  the 
subject  of  engineering  furnishes  the  largest  share.  The  library  service  is 
performed  by  students,  five  being  constantly  employed. 

9.  The  library  oj  the  Western  Theological  Seminary. — This  is  practically 
a  private  library  thus  far,  containing  5,400  volumes  on  theological  sub- 
jects, and  patronized  by  theological  students  only.  A  librarian  is  in 
attendance  only  part  of  the  time.  The  Ubrary's  annual  expense  is  about 
$50  for  periodicals.    All  books  are  donated. 

The  libraries  of  the  University  of  Chicago  have  been  treated  as  a  special 
feature  of  the  university.  The  library  of  the  Art  Institute  as  well  as  the  art 
school  under  the  same  management  will  be  treated  among  the  aesthetic 
interests,  where  the  Art  Institute  as  a  whole  will  be  presented.  There  are 
a  large  number  of  small  libraries  and  reading-rooms  in  connection 
with  settlements,'  women's  clubs,'  Sunday  schools,  and  Young  Men's 
Christian  Associations,^  all  of  which  are  supplemented  by  a  still  larger 
number  in  private  homes.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  obtain  infor- 
mation about  these  latter,  and  only  partial  reports  could  be  gotten  from  the 

10.  Community-consciousness  among  the  libraries. — In  the  agreement 
among  the  larger  libraries  of  the  city  whereby  each  has  its  own  special  kinds 
of  subjects,  and  endeavors  to  make  the  collections  in  those  subjects  espec- 
ially complete,  is  seen  an  excellent  illustration  of  effective  community- 
consciousness.  In  this  specialization  the  whole  need  of  the  city  as  a  book- 
using  community  is  more  thoroughly  provided  for  than  would  be  possible 
under  a  system  where  each  library  would  collect  all  it  could  of  all  kinds 
of  books.  By  express  agreement,  the  Chicago  PubUc  Library  is  striving 
to  develop  a  great  circulating  and  reference  library  of  general  literature, 

'  See  p.  63;  also  Appendix,  Table  II,  "Social  Settlements." 

•  See  p.  ss'i  also  Appendix,  Table  I,  "Women's  Clubs."  »  See  pp.  iii,  112. 


44 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


the  John  Crerar  Library  seeks  to  surpass  in  the  collection  of  books  on  the 
natural,  physical,  and  social  sciences,  and  the  Newberry  Library  collects 
especially  public  documents  and  books  on  the  liberal  arts.  Such  a  division 
of  the  Ubrary  field  can  be  made  with  little  difficulty,  and  is  a  suggestion 
which  could  profitably  be  applied  by  groups  of  agencies  cultivating  other 
fields  in  the  city's  higher  life. 

n.    THE  PRESS. 

The  educational  power  of  the  press  of  Chicago  is  difficult  to  estimate. 
The  influence  is  of  a  subtle  character,  the  number  of  readers  within  the  city 
cannot  be  determined,  and  the  value  of  the  press  in  leading  public  opinion 
is  difficult  to  measure.  The  chief  function  of  the  great  dailies  is  to  give  the 
news.  This  is  done  with  httle  conscious  effort  at  more  than  peddling  infor- 
mation and  selhng  the  papers.  But  the  intellectual  and  social  stimulus 
furnished  by  these  thousands  of  papers  has  its  part  in  the  mental  hfe 
of  the  community.  It  may  be  that  the  work  of  the  great  dailies  is  most 
powerful  in  exposing  corruption  and  driving  it  from  private  and  public  life, 
in  securing  the  best  men  in  municipal  office,  and  in  aiding  all  the  great 
movements  for  civic  betterment.  The  role  of  the  newspapers  as  trustees 
of  and  contributors  to  special  relief  and  philanthropic  purposes  should  be 
mentioned. 

Statistics  of  the  different  kinds  of  papers  and  their  circulation  give  no 
adequate  measure  of  the  cultural  value  of  these  agencies  of  education  and 
of  civic  and  social  betterment.  But  some  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  these 
interests  may  be  given  as  a  kind  of  skeleton  to  be  clothed  with  life  as  the 
reader  may  be  able  to  appreciate  the  work  of  the  press. 

There  are  in  Chicago  29  daily  papers,'  with  an  estimated  daily  circula- 
tion^ of  1 ,334,095  and  an  additional  Sunday  circulation  of  757,822.  Nine  of 
the  largest  English  daiUes  have  a  circulation  of  1,087,000  and  an  addi- 
tional Simday  circulation  of  709,184.  Of  the  whole  number  of  papers  and 
periodicals  published  in  the  city,  32  are  German,  6  of  which  are  dailies;  14 
are  Bohemian,  3  of  which  are  dailies;  14  Polish,  2  of  which  are  dailies;  10 
Norwegian- Danish,  i  of  which  is  a  daily;  10  Swedish;  5  Hebrew,  i  of  which 
is  a  daily;  4  Italian,  2  Croatian,  and  i  each  of  the  following:  Danish,  French, 
and  Lithuanian.  There  are  44  religious  publications,  31  of  which  are  week- 
lies with  an  estimated  circulation  of  398,678,  and  10  of  which  are  monthhes 
with  a  circulation  of  67,783.  There  are  33  agricultural  pubU cations,  2  of 
which  are  dailies,  16  weeklies,  and  11  monthlies;  23  medical  journals,  21 

'  All  these  figures  are  compiled  from  the  American  Newspaper  Annual,  1902,  published  by  N.  W, 
^yer  &  Son,  Philadelphia. 

*  Not  limited  to  Chicago. 


,.j^"iBfH  ^.fiiijjjwi_^4ji  iiji^m^apiRtH 


.y^fetfn  jHi.  I 


THE  LIBRARIES  AND  THE  PRESS 


45 


of  which  are  monthKes;  12  educational  publications,  9  of  which  are  monthUes 
with  a  circulation  of  67,820,  and  2  weeklies  with  a  circulation  of  15,000;  14 
monthlies,  3  bimonthlies,  and  4  quarterlies  devoted  to  science  and  mechan- 
ics; 4  prohibition  and  temperance  publications,  9  secret  society  journals,  2 
college  pubUcations,  and  182  trade  and  miscellaneous  papers. 


(j«PW"«^f;ff^^m]pw!JWl.SM,i.^»ywpiPW-'."'r'     ■    '  •  ■  .'.ww"  ■?■!■  liewi.ip    ..■.tjijiiijij.w.Wiip 


J-»5T    j^ujiipnimimu,!  II    iji.ji  ipj^j^iiiiii; 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONCLUSION  TO  PART  I.  1 

Reviewing  the  educational  interest  of  the  city  as  represented  by  the 
public  schools  and  the  voluntary  agencies  for  their  extension,  by  the  supple- 
mentary work  done  in  the  museum,  settlements,  and  private  schools,  by 
the  complementary  rdle  of  the  libraries,  the  professional  schools,  and  the 
university,  the  educational  endowment  of  the  city  appears  of  no  small 
proportions.  The  adequacy  of  this  endowment  is  not  yet  measured.  It 
is  impossible  for  the  writer  at  present  to  make  comparisons  of  this  work  with 
that  done  in  other  cities.  There  are,  however,  some  indications  as  to  the 
adequacy  of  the  equipment  to  meet  the  demands  made  upon  it. 

The  means  of  providing  appropriate  rooms,  classes,  and  teachers  for 
all  the  classes  of  school  children  other  than  normal  are  almost  entirely  lack- 
ing; the  care  and  special  instruction  for  the  defective  children  who  should 
be  in  school  are  entirely  inadequate  to  accommodate  these  once  patient, 
but  now  restless,  classes;  the  support,  coming  partly  from  private  individuals 
or  society  subscriptions,  and  partly  from  public  funds,  fails  to  provide  for  more 
than  a  small  portion  of  the  worthy  appUcants.  The  crowds  that  clamor  for 
admission  to  the  vacation  schools,  but  cannot  enter  because  of  lack  of  money 
to  take  care  of  them,  indicate  a  need  of  more  generous  provision;  the  anxiety 
to  learn  that  often  makes  the  waiting  Usts  for  the  classes  in  cooking  and 
sewing  as  large  as  those  that  can  be  admitted,  is  deserving  of  larger  gratifica- 
tion at  the  hands  of  the  community.  The  ambitious  foreigner,  and  the 
factory  boys  and  girls,  knocking  at  the  closed  doors  of  the  pubUc-schooI 
buildings,  should  find  more  doors  swing  open ;  the  industrial  "shut-ins"  of  our 
crowded  quarters  are  looking  toward  these  same  centers  and  asking  why 
they  cannot  share  these  public  benefactions  in  ways  to  fill  out  their  narrow 
lives.  Blessing  the  voluntary  clubs  that  have  opened  the  schoolhouses  for 
lectures,  musicals,  and  social  evenings,  they  pray  for  the  hastening  of  the 
general  opening  of  public-school  property  to  all  the  people.  The  reductions 
in  municipal  appropriations  that  have  decreased  the  teaching  force  in  the 
city  schools,  and  reduced  the  circulation  through  the  branches  of  the  PubUc 
Library  by  one-third,  are  unfortunate  limitations  upon  the  city's  intellectual 
Ufe.  i 


46 


-^^mm^fmiiim^ifmfif^mmmfiK- 


'■•     :  •    '.    I      ".^WB^fi^^PpPPWi 


vy 


PART  II 


.  ♦ 


THE  MORAL  AND  SOCIAL  INTERESTS  OF  CHICAGO 


CHAPTER  V. 
CIVIC  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  WOMEN'S  CLUBS. 

In  this  division  I  have  brought  together  those  leagues,  associations, 
and  clubs,  that  have  for  their  chief  object  the  improvement  of  civic  conditions 
or  the  furthering  of  some  moral  interests.  I  have  included  under  the  above 
title  also  the  social  settlements,  the  trade  unions,  and  the  charitable  institu- 
tions of  the  city. 

Attention  should  again  be  called  to  the  purpose  of  the  study  as  deter- 
mining the  selection  of  the  agencies  included  in  this  section  and  the  manner 
of  treating  them.  No  club  or  institution  is  presented  for  its  own  sake,  but 
for  the  sake  of  the  community  interests  it  subserves.  There  are  a  large 
number  of  mutual-benefit  societies  whose  community-value  is  felt  through 
the  increased  value  of  their  members  as  individuals.  They  contribute 
directly  to  the  improvement  of  their  own  members,  and  thus  indirectly  to 
that  of  the  community.  Among  these  are  the  many  secret  societies  and 
fraternal  orders,  the  purely  Uterary  and  social  clubs,  and  the  athletic  clubs.* 
These  mutual-benefit  societies  have  not  been  included. 

I.    CIVIC  ASSOCIATIONS. 

I.  The  Citizens^  Association  of  Chicago'  was  established  in  1874.  Its 
object  is  to  insure  better  labor  legislation,  to  protect  the  city  and  its  citizens 
against  abuses  and  corrupt  officials,  and  to  develop  the  commercial  and 
business  interests  of  the  city.  It  is  non-partisan,  non-sectarian,  and  does 
not  undertake  to  further  the  interests  of  any  organizations  engaged  in  pro- 
moting temperance  or  sumptuary  legislation.  Its  members  must  be  legal 
voters  and  taxpayers  of  Cook  county.  The  expenses  are  met  by  voluntary 
subscriptions  and  annual  dues. 

The  association  has  had  a  leading  part  in  nearly  all  the  governmental, 
commercial,  and  sanitary  undertakings  and  problems  of  the  city  in  the  last 
three  decades.  Its  chief  work  in  the  last  two  decades  has  been  the  initia- 
tion of  and  assistance  in  carrying  out  reforms  along  the  following  lines: 
high-license  laws,  city  railways,  lotteries,  poUce,  theaters,  tenement  houses, 
smoke,  food  adulteration,  civil  service,  primary-election  law,  election  frauds, 
ventilation  of  pubhc-school  buildings,  prize-fighting,  gambling,  corrupt 

'  Some  of  these  will  be  found  in  Table  I  of  the  Appendix. 
>  Room  33, 92  LaSalle  street,  Chicago. 


.^rMy-«. -  <V'  M '  ^  »T '  •'  "».  •  "■ ."  '*.-»l'.'^P»W|iP 


1 1.,  i.iu  jiw'«."»»i>j."u  ^tJ '■^r'i»«pppfi»j 


-^  I  .  1 11  n*  wj  wi^if 'I' 


5© 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


j;  w  |,»»»1I.U  - 


administration,  the  sanitary  districts  for  the  drainage  of  Chicago,  gas 
trusts,  public  improvements,  the  improvement  of  the  Chicago  River,  the 
abatement  of  nuisances,  etc.,  etc. 

"Enforcement  of  the  laws  is  the  keynote  of  the  association's  work." 
In  the  last  six  months  of  1903  it  aided  in  the  Police  Department  investiga- 
tion, and  in  the  indictment  of  five  inspectors  of  the  Sanitary  Bureau  of  the 
Health  Department;  and  secured  179  indictments  against  policy-shop 
operators. 

2.  The  Civic  Federation  of  Chicago^  was  organized  early  in  the  year 
1894,  growing  out  of  the  efforts  to  care  for  the  great  numbers  of  persons  left 
stranded  in  Chicago  at  the  close  of  the  Columbian  Exposition  in  1893.  ^^ 
its  earlier  years  it  had  departments  of  poUtical  action,  philanthropy,  moral 
improvement,  and  legislation.  Each  of  these  had  standing  committees, 
and  each  in  its  way  did  eflfective  work;  but  it  was  soon  found  that  they 
seriously  conflicted  with  each  other  when  conducted  by  the  same  controlling 
body.  It  was  because  of  this  that  the  Bureau  of  Charities  and  the  Municipal 
Voters'  League  were  organized,  each  with  its  specific  purpose.  For  the 
same  reason  the  Committee  on  Morals  was  subsequently  discontinued, 
and  the  federation  has  recently  concentrated  its  energies  upon  the  one  line 
of  needed  legislation. 

The  work  of  the  federation,  when  brought  together,  shows  a  large 
niunber  of  accomplishments  of  practical  value: 

The  federation  has  attacked  public  gambling,  the  social  evil,  pay-roll  stuffing, 
fraudulent  street-paving  and  sweeping,  filthy  bakeries,  impure  ice,  corruption  in 
the  Water  Department,  registration  frauds,  frauds  at  the  primaries  and  at  the 
polls,  crooked  assessors  and  collectors,  sellers  of  obscene  literature,  opium  dens, 
mortgage  sharks,  and  numerous  other  municipal  evils.  To  carry  on  this  work 
a  secret-service  department  has  been  organized,  with  one  of  the  best  secret- 
service  men  of  the  United  States  at  its  head.' 

In  1895  a  joint  committee,  organized  by  the  Civic  Federation  and  com- 
posed of  representatives  of  leading  clubs  of  the  city,  drafted  the  present 
civil-service  law  and  secured  its  passage.  The  federation  has  regularly 
taken  violators  of  the  law  before  the  Civil  Service  Commission,  and  in  many 
cases  prosecuted  them  in  the  courts.  In  1896  the  federation  raised  $3,000, 
and  demonstrated  to  the  city  that  the  down-town  district  could  be  cleaned 
at  $10  per  mile,  instead  of  costing  $18.50  which  the  city  had  been  paying, 
but  for  which  it  has  since  paid  only  $10.50.  "The  movement  for  vacation 
schools  in  Chicago  was  started  by  the  Civic  Federation,"  and  the  first  school 
was  held  in  1896.     This  society  called  the  conference  at  the  headquarters 

«  184  LaSalle  street.        Address,  . 

'  The  Civic  Federation  oj  Chicago — What  it  Bos  Accomplished,  report  of  the  secretary,  1899. 


':/- 


CIVIC  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  WOMEN'S  CLUBS  5 1 

of  the  federation  which  resulted  in  the  joint  committee  from  about  ten  organi- 
zations that  secured  the  legislation  creating  the  Parental  School.  It  was 
instnmiental  also  in  having  enacted,  in  1903,  a  bill  providing  for  the  opening 
of  school  buildings  for  socials,  lectures,  and  dub  meetings.  The  Penny 
Savings  Society  was  organized  by  the  federation  in  1897.  The  federation 
was  largely  instrumental  in  securing  the  passage  of  a  revenue  and  a  primary- 
election  law.  It  has  promoted  three  national  conferences:  in  1894  in  Chi- 
cago, on  arbitration;  in  1898  in  New  York  city,  on  primary-election  reform; 
in  1898  in  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y.,  on  the  future  policy  of  the  United 
States  with  reference  to  international  arbitration. 

In  October,  1903,  the  Civic  Federation  called  a  convention  composed 
of  delegates  from  twenty-three  clubs  and  business  organizations  in  the  hope 
of  concentrating  the  efforts  then  being  made  to  secure  the  constitutional 
modifications  that  would  make  possible  long-desired  improvements  in  the 
city  government.  It  was  called  the  Chicago  New  Charter  Convention. 
The  federation  is  co-operating  intimately  with  this  body  in  the  campaign  now 
being  carried  on  for  a  new  charter. 

3.   The  Municipal  Voters^  League.^  - 

The  Municipal  Voters'  League  is  an  independent  political  organization, 
the  sole  purpose  of  which  is  the  election  of  honest  and  competent  municipal 
officers  in  Chicago.  It  has  confined  its  attention  to  members  of  the  city  coimcil. 
It  is  absolutely  non-partisan  and  intensely  practical.  It  was  organized  in  1896 
by  a  Committee  of  One  Hundred,  composed  of  a  Republican  and  a  Democrat 
from  each  of  the  thirty-four  wards  then  in  the  city,  and  thirty-two  members 
chosen  from  the  city  at  large  without  regard  to  residence  or  political  affiliation. 
This  Committee  of  One  Hundred  was  the  result  of  a  meeting  of  about  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  representatives  of  various  clubs  and  organizations  called  together 
by  the  Civic  Federation  to  devise  means  of  improving  conditions  in  the  city 
council.  The  Mimicipal  Voters'  League  thus  formed  consists  of  an  executive 
committee  of  nine  men,  supported  by  a  large  general  membership  of  many  thou- 
sands of  voters  in  all  parts  of  the  city  who  signed  cardsin  1896  expressing  approva 
of  its  purpose  and  methods,  and  who  have  since  identified  themselves  with  its 
work  or  supported  its  recommendations  at  the  polls.* 

The  league  has  but  one  aim — the  election  of  honest  and  capable  officials  to 
whom  the  interests  of  the  entire  city  are  of  paramoimt  importance. 

To  accompUsh  this,  it  appeals  to  the  non-partisan  minority;  strives  to 
quicken  and  keep  aUve  the  civic  conscience;  investigates  carefully  the  records, 
private  and  public,  of  retiring  ofl&cials,  of  nominees  and  "those  spoken  of"  **; 

as  candidates;  and  publishes  its  recommendations  at  such  time,  and  sup- 

»  Walter  L.  Fisher,  secretary,  107  Dearborn  street. 

■  The  Municipal  Voters  League — What  It  Really  Is,  published  by  the  league. 


.\- 


52  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

ported  by  such  facts,  as  the  executive  committee  deems  expedient.  It 
prefers  not  to  make  a  nomination,  but  to  indorse  or  condemn  those  abready 
made;  but  in  cases  where  there  is  no  alternative  in  a  ward  but  to  vote  for 
bad  candidates,  the  league  may  nominate.  In  exceptional  cases  it  will  hold 
mass  meetings  in  the  interest  of  a  good  candidate.  Each  year  the  league 
pubUshes  a  report  setting  forth  the  problems  of  chief  interest  to  the  city, 
together  with  a  short  unequivocal  platform  on  the  current  municipal 
questions.  This  platform  it  submits  to  each  candidate,  asking  him  to 
sign  it,  or  some  other  equally  explicit  one  which  shall  be  his  pledge  to  the 
city.  Only  a  few  days  before  each  city  election  the  league  publishes  a 
bulletin  indorsing  the  candidates  it  beUeves  most  worthy  in  the  several 
wards. 

The  purpose  of  the  league  finds  sympathy  with  all  honest  citizens; 
and  its  methods  are  so  honorable  and  eflFective,  its  recommendations  so 
uniformly  justified,  and  the  results  so  wholesome,  that  it  can  hardly  be  too 
strongly  commended.  Largely  through  its  efforts,  party  lines  in  the  city 
council  have  given  place  to  honor  lines,  and  a  council  that  in  1896  consisted 
of  forty-six  members  who  were  beheved  to  be  dishonest  had  in  1902  been 
transformed  into  one  having  only  seventeen  believed  to  be  dishonest  and 
fifty-three  believed  to  be  honest.  In  these  efforts  the  Municipal  Voters' 
League  has,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  had  the  most  generous  co-operation 
of  the  city  press. 

4.  The  Legislative  Voters^  League^  is  a  political-reform  association 
organized  in  1901  under  the  inspiration  of  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Citizens' 
Association,  and  whose  character  and  methods  are  much  the  same  as  the 
Municipal  Voters'  League.  The  former  strives  to  do  for  the  legislature 
at  Springfield,  especially  with  regard  to  the  members  from  Cook  county, 
what  the  latter  does  for  the  council  in  Chicago.  Its  present  effort  is  to 
secure  such  representatives  as  will  give  Chicago  the  legislation  necessary 
to  give  the  city  larger  autonomy,  and  to  wipe  out  the  evils  still  existing 
in  the  city  government  that  originate  in  combinations  of  dishonest  men 
whose  operations  have  been  transferred  from  the  city  council,  on  account 
of  the  successful  work  of  the  Municipal  Voters'  League,  to  the  legislature 
at  Springfield. 

To  accomplish  this,  the  league  follows  the  action  of  each  Cook  county 
legislator  at  Springfield,  having  a  committee  present  for  that  purpose,  and 
publishes  this  record  in  a  pamphlet  issued  to  the  voters  of  the  county, 
making  such  non-partisan  recommendations  as  the  several  records  seem 
to  justify.    The  league  also  publishes  exposures  of  schemes  by  the  "organi- 

'  George  E.  Cole,  president,  92  LaSalle  street. 


CnC  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  WOMEN'S  CLUBS  $3 

zation,"  whether  at  Springfield  or  Chicago,  at  primaries  or  elections;  tries 
to  awaken  the  voters  to  their  civic  duty,  warns  them  of  their  danger,  and 
instructs  them  how  to  secure  their  rights. 

5.  The  Civil  Service  Reform  Association  of  Chicago^  was  organized  to 
secure  an  adequate  civil-service  law  for  Chicago.  Through  the  work  of 
this  association,  and  co-operation  of  kindred  societies,  the  law  of  1895  was 
passed.  Since  that  time  the  association  has  been  a  jealous  guardian  of  its 
enforcement.  >  ,. 

6.  The  Illinois  Civil  Service  Association^  was  organized  in  1902.  It 
is  more  than  a  local  organization,  whose  work  is  to  secure  for  the  state  of 
Illinois  a  good  civil-service  law.  The  headquarters  are  in  Chicago,  many 
of  its  officials  are  citizens  of  Cook  county,  and  the  results  of  the  law  would 
be  of  wide  application  in  this  city.  Nine  clubs  and  associations  of  the  city 
were  represented  in  the  convention  that  organized  the  association.  A  bill 
was  drafted,  but  inasmuch  as  the  governor  anticipated  the  association  in 
getting  a  bill  before  the  legislature,  the  association  co-operated  with  those 
in  charge  of  this  bill.  But  it  failed  of  passage,  and  preparations  are  now 
being  made  for  a  second  trial  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  legislatiu^e. 

7.  The  Merchants^  Club^  is  composed  of  some  of  the  city's  public- 
spirited  men  who  have  been  directing  their  eflforts  toward  municipal 
reform  and  school  extension.  Under  the  former,  they  instituted  an  investi- 
gation of  the  methods  of  bookkeeping  used  in  the  city  departments.  The 
reports  of  the  experts  employed  by  this  club  disclosed  a  lack  of  system,  and 
consequent  inability  to  determine  the  financial  condition  of  the  city,  and 
also  suggested  a  different  and  simpler  plan.  Under  the  encouragement 
of  the  club,  this  system  has  been  extensively  adopted  in  the  city's  affairs. 
The  club  was  the  chief  factor  in  the  organization  of  the  First  State  Pawners* 
Society  of  Chicago  (1899).  This  society  has  proved  that  loans  can  be  made 
at  much  lower  rates  than  had  been,  and  usually  are,  charged  by  private 
pawn  societies,  and  a  large  dividend  stUl  be  paid  to  stockholders.  It  is 
evident,  from  the  testimony  of  pawners  and  the  representatives  of  charitable 
societies,  that  the  society  has  not  only  reduced  interest  to  its  customers, 
but  "prevented  unreasonable  exactions  by  private  pawners  in  thousands 
of  cases." 

The  work  of  the  Merchants'  Club  on  school  extension  has  been  indicated 
in  the  division  on  schools.* 

8.  The  City  Club  of  Chicago^  was  organized  in  November,  1903,  as  a 

'  F.  W.  BuU,  184  LaSaUe  street. 

>  William  B.  Moulton,  president,  61  Market  street. 

'  C.  D.  Norton,  secretary,  108  LaSalle  street.  «  Pp.  28,  29. 

i  George  E.  Hooker,  secretary,  180  Madison  street. 


W.WT' 


54  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO  i 

sort  of  clearing-house  for  the  executive  and  finance  committees  of  the  chief 
civic  associations  of  the  city.  It  strives  to  enlist  a  large  number  of  business 
and  professional  men,  and  thus  to  "further  the  growing  movement  in 
Chicago  for  higher  civic  conditions  by  promoting  personal  co-operation  in 
the  investigation  and  improvement  of  pubUc  affairs."  It  maintains  club- 
rooms  and  a  lunch-room,  and  encourages  the  formation  and  meeting  of 
groups  of  workers  in  all  lines  of  civic  improvement. 

Two  investigations  have  been  carried  on  under  the  management  of  the 
club:  that  by  Captain  Alexander  Piper  on  the  discipline  and  administration 
of  the  local  Police  Department,  and  that  by  Mr.  John  R.  Freeman  on  fire 
protection  in  Chicago  theaters.  These  reports  were  both  by  experts  in 
their  respective  fields  and  have  been  immediately  valuable  in  securing  a 
safer  Chicago. 

9.  The  Law  and  Order  League  was  formed  early  in  1904  for  the  pur- 
pose of  assisting  in  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  against  keeping  the  saloons 
open  after  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  selling  liquor  to  minors,  child- 
gambling,  and  the  smoking  of  cigarettes  by  children.  Thus  far  the  efforts 
of  the  league  have  been  directed  chiefly  against  cigarette-seUing. 

10.  The  Municipal  Lecture  Association^  was  organized  in  June,  1902, 
as  a  voluntary  organization  to  provide  free  public  lectures  on  problems  of 
municipal  life  and  government.  During  the  season  of  1902-3  lectures 
were  given  in  the  Auditorium,  under  its  auspices,  by  Dr.  Nicholas  Murray 
Butler,  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  Dr.  Washington  Gladden, 
and  Mr.  Jacob  A.  Riis.  Dxiring  the  season  of  1903-4  lectures  were  given 
by  Bishop  Spalding,  David  J.  Brewer,  and  Mr.  Jacob  A.  Riis.  I 

Note. — There  are  other  long-established  and  valuable  clubs  in  the  city  having 
departments  of  civic  improvement  which  have  rendered  valuable  service  in  initiating 
or  co-operating  in  the  work  mentioned  above,  but  whose  objects  are  chiefly  commer- 
cial or  partisan,  and  are  omitted  from  our  present  study. 

n.  women's  clubs.' 

I.  Activities. — Just  as  it  is  impossible  to  measure  the  work  of  a  mother 
in  her  home,  so  it  is  impossible  to  measure  the  value  of  the  women's  clubs 
in  Chicago.  But  as  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  mother's  work  of  love 
is  indispensable  to  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  the  home  and  commimity, 
so  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  women's  clubs'  labors  of  love  and  intelli- 
gence are  necessary  to  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  the  community,  city, 
and  state.  A  brief  conspectus  of  what  these  clubs  are  doing  will  make 
these  propositions  significant. 

'  George  R.  Peck,  chairman,  916  Monadnock  Block.  *  See  Appendix  for  list.  I 


!^IWWi|i.nH!,jWg., 


CIVIC  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  WOMEN'S  CLUBS  $5 

There  are  in  the  city  approximately  no  women's  dubs  that  do  some- 
thing directly  and  consciously  for  the  higher  life  of  the  city.  I  sent  a 
questionnaire  to  loo  of  these,  and  received  85  repUes.  The  information 
obtained  has  been  carefully  tabulated,  and  appears  in  general  form  in  the 
Appendix.  The  following  statements  can  be  made  from  that  inductive 
study,  and  are  an  understatement  rather  than  an  overstatement  of  what  these 
85  clubs  are  doing. 

These  85  clubs  have  12,500  active  and  250  honorary  members.  They 
own  very  litde  real  estate,  although  two  clubs  are  building  club-houses  at 
present,  and  they  have  fiirniture  and  Ubraries  valued  at  $12,000.  The 
clubs  are  groups  of  effective  size,  the  larger  ones  being  divided  into  depart- 
ments, which  in  the  case  of  the  Chicago  Woman's  Club  practically  amount 
to  six  different  clubs.  Twenty-one  of  the  clubs  are  thus  divided,  the  depart- 
ments being  distributed  among  the  following  subjects:  art  and  Uterature, 
education,  home,  philanthropy,  music,  philosophy,  and  science.  The 
greater  nvunber,  however,  direct  all  their  efforts  toward  their  several  objects 
under  the  leadership  of  special  or  standing  committees.  The  activities  of 
the  clubs  and  the  subjects  they  are  interested  in  may  be  grouped  as  educa- 
tional, aesthetic,  social  or  moral,  philanthropic,  and  charitable. 

In  things  chiefly  educational,  6  women's  clubs  contribute  to  kinder- 
gartens and  carry  on  a  campaign  to  increase  the  number  of  kindergartens 
in  the  public  schools;  40  contribute  most  of  the  money  for  the  support  of 
the  vacation  schools  in  the  city,  suppl3dng  teachers,  transportation  for 
defective  children,  and  materials  for  domestic  science  and  manual  training; 

1  club  furnishes  fourteen  typewriters  for  the  day  and  evening  classes  in  the 
John  Spry  PubUc  School;  16  clubs  send  delegates  and  contribute  to  the 
School  of  Domestic  Arts  and  Sciences,  while  4  support  classes  in  cooking 
and  sewing  in  the  pubhc  schools;  3  contribute  to  the  support  of  the  Parental 
School,  or  co-operate  with  it  to  prevent  truancy;  21  pay  to  the  support  of 
the  probation  officers;  16  have  assisted  in  the  opening  of  small  parks  and 
playgrounds,  or  contributed  to  the  Jackson  Park  Sanitariiun;  25  support 
each  a  circulating  library  or  one  or  more  traveUng  libraries. 

In  things  chiefly  aesthetic,  10  clubs  send  delegates  to  the  Public  School 
Art  Society^  and  contribute  money  to  its  support;  26  are  members  of  the 
Mvmicipal  Art  League;"  12  hold  receptions  at  the  Art  Institute^  during  the 
annual  exhibition  of  the  paintings  by  Chicago  artists;  3  regularly  purchase 
pictures  during  the  exhibition,  thereby  encouraging  local  artist  talent;  while 

2  offer  cash  prizes  for  the  best  picture  by  a  Chicago  artist.  One  dub  con- 
tributed to  the  Chicago  Orchestra  Fund. 

'  p.  97.  '  p.  97.  '  P.  100.  ,   • 


56  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

In  things  chiefly  social  or  moral,  8  clubs  contribute  to  the  support  of 
day  nurseries;  17  assist  in  the  work  of  the  Chicago  settlements  by  cash  con- 
tribution, "emergency  chests,"  and  co-operation;  while  11  have  taken  part 
in  the  efforts  to  secure  better  labor  legislation. 

In  things  chiefly  philanthropic  and  charitable,  7  clubs  contribute  to  the 
support  of  homes  for  children;  8  to  rescue  homes,  and  14  to  hospitals;  10 
give  money  to  charitable  societies  in  the  city,  and  8  to  the  Protective  Agency 
for  Women  and  Children;  10  send  delegates  to  the  Model  Lodging  House 
Association,  and  contribute  to  its  support;  while  2  support  lunch-rooms 
and  noon-day  rests  for  women  working  in  the  center  of  the  city. 

2.  Significance. — It  is  no  mere  figure  to  compare  the  work  of  the 
women's  clubs  to  that  of  the  mother.  A  review  of  their  work,  as  presented 
above,  seems  to  justify  the  statement  that  the  work  of  the  women's  clubs  is 
the  work  of  the  mother  in  the  home  projected  into  the  community.  A 
little  reflection  makes  this  appear  quite  natural.  First  of  all,  the  wives  and 
mothers  who  are  members  of  these  clubs  are  not  club  women,  but  women. 
Not  their  club  for  its  own  sake,  but  for  the  good  it  can  do,  is  an  apt  expres- 
sion of  the  attitude  of  these  members  to  their  work.  That  the  club  is  a 
means  to  an  end  needs  no  further  demonstration  than  the  above  enumera- 
tion of  things  done.  It  is  only  a  part  of  the  great  industrial  revolution 
that  women  should  now  find  more  and  larger  community  interests  than 
formerly.  Division  and  specialization  of  labor,  the  introduction  of  machin- 
ery that  can  be  managed  by  women,  the  increased  trade,  professional,  and 
business  opportunities  for  them,  have  gone  hand  in  hand  with  taking  the 
educational  function  from  the  home  to  the  state,  the  art  of  sewing  and  the 
science  of  cooking  from  the  home  to  the  shop  or  school;  the  baking  of  bread, 
the  canning  and  preserving  of  foods,  are  now  little  performed  in  the  home. 
All  these  things  have  both  freed  women  from  such  work  in  the  home  and 
have  enlisted  their  interest  in  the  commvmity  where  these  things  are  now  per- 
formed. 

Education  was  not  taken  from  the  home  without  taking  women  along 
as  teachers;  weaving  and  sewing  were  not  taken  to  the  factories  and  the 
women  left  behind;  the  means  of  caring  for  the  defective  child,  of  disci- 
plining the  mischievous,  or  of  reclaiming  the  wayward,  have  been  changed, 
but  the  mother's  love  has  followed  the  children.  It  would  have  been  quite 
unnatural  for  women  not  to  have  taken  an  active  interest  in  the  community's 
educational  and  reformatory  work  under  these  changed  conditions.  If 
better  ways  have  been  found  for  relief  than  by  giving  it  from  the  door 
women's  intelligent  sympathy  has  been  quick  to  give  in  these  better  ways; 
hence  her  interest  in  the  city's  charities.    If  women  have  gone  out  into 


•wmmm'mm^ft'&^ffffK 


CIVIC  ASSOCIATIONS  AND  WOMEN'S  CLUBS  57 

larger  relations,  their  sjmipathy  has  found  expression  in  larger  movements; 
hence  her  interest  in  labor  legislation,  in  rescue  and  protective  agencies, 
and  in  public  health.  If  they  and  their  children  must  spend  much  time  in 
the  public  schools,  in  the  store  and  factory,  and  along  the  streets  and 
boulevards,  then  the  school,  the  store  and  factory,  and  the  city's  out-of- 
doors  must  be  made  beautiful;  hence  their  interest  in  public-school  and 
municipal  art. 

The  enumeration  of  what  the  women's  clubs  are  doing  shows  that,  as  a 
whole,  they  are  aware  of  the  city's  needs,  especially  in  those  hnes  where 
women  naturally  find  their  interest  and  can  effectively  assist.  May  it 
not  be  hoped,  however,  that  this  conspectus  will  give  to  the  clubs  a  dearer 
view  of  the  essential  unity  of  their  interests,  and  the  part  they  bear  in  the 
whole  of  the  city's  higher  life  ?  It  may  be  doubted  whether  there  is  a  large 
degree  of  consciousness  of  purpose  on  the  part  of  the  individual  clubs  and 
of  the  clubs  as  a  whole.  The  forty  clubs  that  contribute  to  the  vacation 
schools,  no  doubt,  are  conscious,  as  individual  clubs  and  as  a  group,  of  a 
definite  purpose  to  make  the  vacation  schools  a  regular  part  of  the  free 
pubhc  schools.  They  are  planning  and  working  accordingly.  But  there 
is  no  evidence  that  any  other  group  is  equally  conscious  of  its  purpose  and 
plan.  Are  those  who  are  supporting  the  probation  oflScers?  Are  those 
who  are  maintaining  libraries  ?  How  clear  and  how  wide  is  the  vision  of 
those  interested  in  the  problems  of  women  in  industry  ?  It  might  be  asked: 
How  far  does  there  exist  an  effective  consciousness,  measured  in  terms  of 
co-operation,  between  the  women's  clubs  as  a  group  and  the  social  settle- 
ments as  a  group  ?  Between  them  and  the  civic  clubs  ?  Between  them 
and  the  libraries  of  the  city  ?  Between  them  and  the  trade  unions  ?  Yet 
there  are  many  points  of  common  interest  between  the  women's  dubs  and 
these  groups.  - 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS.' 

One  way  of  expressing  the  settlement  movement  is  to  say  that  it  is  the 
practical  embodiment  of  the  interest  of  the  more  favored  in  the  less  favored 
members  of  the  community.  In  its  historical  meaning  the  settlement  is 
a  home  among  neighbors  whose  homes  it  loves  to  make  better.  The  spirit 
of  its  inception  was  the  desire  to  Uve  near  those  whom  one  loved  to  help. 
Every  settlement  desires  to  be  considered  a  home  among  its  neighbors. 
Because  these  neighbors'  homes  lack  so  many  things  essential  to  completer 
living,  the  settiement  has  enlarged  these  better  things  while  cxiltivating  a 
desire  for  them.  Thus  the  settlement  becomes  a  neighborhood  center. 
Through  this  center  are  cultivated  acquaintanceship,  friendship,  sympathy, 
neighborliness,  community  interest,  and  pride.  Here  are  more  extended 
opportunities  to  gratify  the  spirit  of  play,  the  love  of  contest,  the  aesthetic 
sense,  uncultivated  in  two  rooms  with  barren  walls,  and  the  intellectual 
thirst,  unsatisfied  in  the  foreshortened  school  days. 

The  incompleteness  of  the  poorer  homes,  the  extent  and  nature  of  the 
industrial  demands,  the  helplessness  of  the  social  spirit  in  the  namelessness 
of  the  city  life,  and  the  absence  of  public  meeting-places,  have  enlarged 
the  settlement  activities  until  they  include  gymnasium  classes,  clubs,  and 
contests;  savings  banks,  concerts,  entertainments,  dramatics,  lectures, 
dubs,  dances,  and  receptions;  classes  in  the  common  branches,  trades  and 
industries,  household  subjects,  rehgious  study;  kindergartens  and  day  nur- 
series, books  and  picture  libraries,  summer  outings,  ward-improvement 
clubs,  dispensaries,  postal  stations.  j 

1.  Residents  and  workers. — There  are  in  Chicago  now  in  operation  i8 
settlements,  the  homes  of  about  85  women  and  about  50  men,  and 
where  300  women  and  100  men  from  other  homes  and  fields  give  of  their 
labor.  The  spirit  in  which  all  these  labor,  and  the  value  to  themselves, 
their  neighbors,  and  the  city,  cannot  be  expressed  in  figures  or  the  amount 
overestimated. 

2.  Gymnasium  and  playground  activities. — One  departement  of  the 
larger  home  life  of  the  settlement  may  be  called  the  gymnasium  and  play- 
ground, with  their  classes,  games,  sports,  and  contests.  One-third  of  the 
settlements  have  gymnasia  more  or  less  completely  equipped,  while  only 

■  See  Appendix,  Table  II,  "Social  Settlements."  j 

58 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  59 

four  report  no  room  provided  for  athletic  games  or  classes.  The  others 
have  one  or  more  rooms  convertible  into  a  gymnasium.  All  have  one  or 
more  classes  in  physical  training  or  games.  The  recognition  of  the 
value  of  such  work  is  unanimous,  and  its  larger  use  is  prevented  only  by 
the  difficulty  of  securing  money  and  leaders.  There  are  also  six  play- 
grounds used  or  directed  by  the  settlements.  These,  with  the  gymnasia 
and  equipment,  represent  the  material  for  this  valuable  department  of 
work. 

A  questionnaire  sent  to  the  head  residents  of  all  the  settlements  concern- 
ing the  aim,  value,  and  problems  connected  with  their  several  lines  of  work, 
contained  among  others  the  following  aims  for  the  gymnasiimi  and  play- 
ground activities:  the  aims  are  educational  and  social;  physical  development 
amid  the  most  suitable  surroundings  which  will  lead  to  an  improvement 
in  moral  character;  contact,  interest,  and  physical  development;  moral 
improvement,  the  ultimate  purpose;  health  and  development  of  body,  and 
consequent  good  effect  on  mind  and  morals,  also  recreative. 

These  same  replies  furnish  expert  testimony  as  to  the  value  of  physical 
training  and  games.  Among  the  evidences  of  their  value  the  following 
are  representative:  an  increased  appreciation  of  the  time-  and  order-sense; 
corrective  effect  on  deficient  muscles  and  tendency  toward  spinal  curvature; 
moral  atmosphere  cleared  up;  a  marked  improvement  in  moral  tone  noted; 
a  valuable  means  to  a  moral  end;  brings  together  the  children  of  different 
ages,  temperament,  and  nationaUties,  and  unites  them  in  sympathy  and 
interest;  the  children  are  developing  in  the  sense  of  justice,  of  fair  play,  of 
consideration  for  others,  and  of  equal  rights  of  the  weaker  with  the  stronger; 
they  are  gaining  in  self-control;  the  moral  and  social  influence  is  shown  by 
all  in  their  desire  for  the  higher,  better,  and  truer  things  of  life;  muscular 
strength,  better  circvdation,  strengthening  of  anaemic  hearts — of  which,  one 
settlement  examiner  reports,  there  are  about  35  per  cent,  in  the  women's 
classes — better  alimentation  of  foods,  better  sleep  and  rest,  less  nervous- 
ness, improved  carriage  of  body,  as  well  as  development  of  parts,  shown 
by  the  increase  in  muscular  girths,  in  height,  in  strength,  and  in  general 
healthf  Illness. 

Gymnasimn  groups  often  become  social  groups  for  parties  and  picnics. 
The  yoimger  boys'  classes  have  many  members  who  are  "on  probation" 
from  the  Juvenile  Court,  and  the  gymnasium  has  been  found  to  be  one  of 
the  best  measures  for  keeping  them  from  further  trouble.  The  gymnasium 
and  related  interests  are  not  only  thus  directly  valuable  to  those  who  par- 
ticipate, but  are  very  effective  attractions  for  boys  and  yoimg  men  who  are 
most  difficiilt  to  reach,  who  are  probably  in  greatest  danger,  and  whose 


6o  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

improvement  counts  for  their  parents'  home,  their  own  future  home,  and 
the  welfare  of  the  city,  They  also  contribute  strongly  to  the  success  of 
many  of  the  other  interests  of  the  settlement. 

3.  Thrift. — All  the  settlements  have  a  penny  savings  bank  for  the 
encouragement  of  thrift.  In  some  cases  accounts  are  opened  in  a  savings 
bank  in  the  city.  Neighborly  visits  to  encourage  the  mothers  to  save,  and 
instruction  in  cooking  and  purchasing,  are  other  means  to  the  same  end. 
The  value  of  the  effort  is  attested  by  such  statements  as  the  following:  "one 
woman,  whose  husband  is  a  drunkard,  saved  $100; "  "  it  works  remarkably 
well; "  "  it  is  successful  and  valuable; "  "  it  is  an  inspiration  in  economy." 

4.  Concerts,  entertainments,  lectures. — In  these  eighteen  centers  many 
concerts,  entertainments,  and  lectures  are  held  during  the  autumn,  winter, 
and  spring.  This  forms  a  most  valuable  part  of  settlement  Ufe.  The  aim 
of  these  activities  may  be  expressed  in  several  ways:  to  create  higher  stand- 
ards of  Ufe  generally;  to  furnish  intellectual,  social,  and  moral  uplift;  to 
broaden  interest;  to  awaken  and  develop  sympathy  and  social  responsi- 
bility; to  provide  entertainment  and  education;  to  give  pleasure;  to  offer 
opportunities  for  educational  advantages;  and  to  develop  new  subjects  for 
thought  and  interest.  It  is  interesting  to  know  what  kinds  of  concerts  and 
lectures  are  most  popular  and  why:  for  some,  music,  often  because  the 
neighbors  are  gifted  with  a  love  or  an  abiUty  for  it;  for  others,  comedy, 
because  the  people  have  so  much  drudgery  in  their  lives;  for  still  others, 
social  meetings  and  dances  or  theatrical  entertainments,  partly  because 
the  players  are  members  of  the  community.  In  nearly  all  centers  the  most 
popular  and  most  helpful  lectures  have  been  those  on  home  topics,  munici- 
pal ownership,  and  labor  unions,  because  these  promise  better  things.  In 
some  cases  travel  talks  and  illustrated  lectures  on  European  capitals  have 
proved  most  attractive,  while  in  other  cases  stereopticon  lectures  on  bib- 
lical and  secular  subjects  have  been  most  successful.  In  all  these  prefer- 
ences the  tie  to  the  past  Ufe  or  present  activities  of  the  people  seems  to  be 
the  element  that  insures  success. 

The  almost  universal  testimony  as  to  the  value  of  these  Unes  of  social 
and  educational  efforts  is  expressed  as  follows  by  one  resident: 

The  standard  of  aU  the  entertainments  has  developed  very  much  in  the  last 
few  years;  the  people  now  listen  to  and  enjoy  music  which  it  would  not  have 
been  possible  to  give  at  first;  plays  are  of  very  much  higher  literary  value  than 
formerly. 

Music  has  had  a  refining  effect  upon  the  audience;  its  value  is  seen  in 
interest  awakened,  in  increased  attendance,  and  in  a  better  social  spirit; 
it  gives  a  pleasant  evening  to  those  who  have  dull  and  uninteresting  Uves. 


-'^''•■aRvnsinicn!**F*Q*?9nrv^' 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  6 1 

5.  Clubs. — The  more  distinctly  social  life  of  the  settlement  takes  form 
in  clubs  and  their  activities.  The  need  of  these  has  been  well  expressed 
by  one  resident: 

A  center  of  fellowship  that  emphasizes  likenesses  and  ignores  differences  is 
the  great  need  of  a  community  where  racial,  rehgious,  and  industrial  conditions 
produce  an  unsocial  class. 

In  the  management  of  the  settlement  all  these  social  efforts  have  a  wrell- 
defined  aim;  to  raise  the  standard  of  the  party,  the  ball,  and  the  club;  to 
create  a  desire  for  the  things  these  people  lack  and  do  not  realize  the  need 
of;  to  give  them  higher  aims  and  ambitions;  to  help  them  reaUze  as  mothers, 
sons,  and  daughters,  and  in  a  small  way  as  fathers  too,  that  each  has  a 
responsibility  for  making  the  home  life  helpful,  ,        .' 

The  most  successful  types  of  clubs  are  those  which  introduce  practical 
lines  of  work;  which  have  a  purpose  to  improve  themselves;  which  combine 
practical  and  useful  study  with  social  entertainment ;  which  offer  most  natural 
opportunity  for  the  members  to  express  themselves  and  their  interests, 
and  in  which  the  leader  does  not  do  too  much  directing.  In  four  of  the 
settlements  dancing  is  not  engaged  in.  Many  clubs  have  large  waiting 
lists.  It  is  diflScult  to  secure  good  leaders,  to  keep  all  clubs  in  friendly 
rivalry,  to  avoid  jealousy  and  cUques  in  the  individual  clubs,  to  secure  good 
order  and  discipline,  and  to  encourage  freedom  which  shall  not  degenerate 
into  license. 

6.  Classes. — The  educational  interest  of  the  settlements  is  represented 
by  a  large  number  of  classes.  There  are  foreigners  learning  to  read,  write, 
and  speak  the  English  language;  classes  in  history,  geography,  arithmetic, 
bookkeeping,  music,  literature,  and  psychology.  In  one  settlement  the 
classes  are  composed  nearly  all  of  young  ItaUan  men  studying  English, 
while  the  same  can  be  said  of  many  classes  and  different  nationalities.  In 
general  it  may  be  said  that  the  classes  in  the  common  branches  are  made 
up  of  foreigners,  or  of  young  men  and  women  whose  school  study  has  been 
cut  short  on  account  of  economic  demands,  or  the  loss  of  father  or  mother. 
In  all  their  educational  work  the  settlements  aim  either  to  supplement  or 
to  co-operate  with  the  work  of  the  pubhc  school.  In  three  instances  the 
settlement  offers  no  classes  in  the  common  branches,  but  encourages  a 
neighboring  free  night  school.  In  four  instances  the  settlement  has  turned 
over  its  kindergarten  to  the  public  school. 

The  demand  for  work  in  carpentry,  mechanical  drawing,  basketry, 
printing,  and  other  technical  subjects  exceeds  the  ability  to  provide  it. 
Interest  in  such  classes  never  flags.  Large  waiting  lists,  increased  industri- 
ousness,  and  use  of  the  articles  made  when  taken  home,  give  unmistakable 


\ 


62  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

evidence  of  the  value  of  these  classes.  Seven  of  the  settlements  have  enrolled 
during  the  last  year  over  five  hundred  students  in  correspondence  courses 
in  engineering.  These  courses  are  oflFered  by  the  faculty  of  the  Armour 
Institute  of  Technology,  under  the  management  of  the  American  School  of 
Correspondence.  Equally  popular  and  valuable  is  the  work  done  in  domes- 
tic science  and  art,  sewing,  dressmaking,  embroidery,  millinery,  and  cooking. 
Their  results  are  taken  to  the  home,  and  appear  in  increased  cleanUness, 
order,  and  taste;  in  improved  personal  appearance,  and  a  becoming  self-pride 
and  dignity;  and  in  a  more  attractive  home  and  table.  If  further  evidence 
of  the  value  of  this  line  of  work  were  necessary,  it  would  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  in  every  settlement  more  are  asking  these  advantages  than  can  be 
accommodated,  while  in  some  cases  the  waiting  list  exceeds  the  active  list; 
and  in  such  testimony  as  the  following:  "the  value  cannot  be  calcvdated;" 
"it  is  of  untold  value;"  and  "in  a  niunber  of  cases  these  classes  have  opened 
an  avenue  of  industry." 

In  five  of  the  settlements  there  are  classes  in  religious  subjects;  in  eight 
there  is  very  little  or  no  emphasis  laid  upon  religion;  while  in  five  others  the 
reUgious  spirit  is  consciously  pervasiVfe.  These  differences  are  probably 
accounted  for  by  the  different  view-points  of  the  residents,  by  the  character 
and  purpose  of  the  supporting  body,  and  by  certain  elements  in  the  local 
situation. 

7.  Dramatics. — In  nearly  all  of  the  settlements  there  is  some  form  of 
dramatics,  varying  from  the  dramatizing  of  fairy-tales  to  the  production 
of  Ajax  in  Greek.  In  some  cases  there  are  no  dramatics,  while  they  are 
disapproved  in  at  least  one  of  the  settlements.  Comedies  and  tragedies 
are  universally  most  popular,  though  the  need  of  simple  wholesome  comedies 
is  declared  to  be  lamentable.  The  values  usually  claimed  for  dramatics 
have  found  verification  in  these  centers,  but  in  addition  many  special  values 
have  been  observed.  They  furnish  the  opportunity  for  restless  natures 
to  express  themselves;  they  bring  rehef  from  the  monotony  and  drudgery 
of  un cheerful  homes  and  factories;  they  develop  an  interest  and  pride  in 
the  yoimg  people  and  the  neighborhood;  they  cultivate  concentration, 
executive  ability,  and  self-expression. 

8.  Kindergartens  and  day  nurseries. — The  settlements  are  educators  in 
the  line  of  kindergartens.  They  not  only  support  them,  but  are  passing 
them  on  to  the  pubUc  school  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The  day  nurseries, 
in  which  are  kept  the  children  too  young  for  the  kindergarten,  are  another 
form  of  the  settlement  ministration  to  the  community.  There  are  problems 
of  cleanliness  and  financial  support,  but  the  nurseries  cannot  be  closed,  for 
they  "help  mothers,  save  childhood,  and  protect  the  homes  of  the  future." 


1  li^WLigHlW  i^un  T'^' ■«'*?■ 


SOCIAL  SETTLEME>rrS  63 

9.  Libraries. — All  the  settlements  have  libraries  or  reading-rooms, 
while  three  of  them  have  stations  of  the  Chicago  PubUc  Library.  From 
the  settlement  libraries  books  are  drawn  mostly  by  school  children  between 
the  ages  of  seven  and  sixteen  years,  on  the  subjects  of  fairy-tales,  stories  of 
adventure,  fiction,  history,  and  standard  literature.  Some  adults''  draw 
novels  and  books  on  technical  subjects.  Besides  the  evident  value  of  educa- 
tion, of  pleasure,  and  of  saving  from  wasted  hours,  these  Ubraries  have 
developed  a  promptness,  a  cleanliness  of  person  and  in  the  care  of  books, 
have  given  new  subjects  of  thought  and  conversation,  lessening  by  this  the 
power  of  the  ugly  life  of  the  street,  and  have  furnished  exceptional  oppor- 
timity  for  developing  and  guiding  children's  tastes. 

-  -  10.  Picture  libraries. — There  are  at  present  only  three  fairly  large 
collections  of  pictures  loaned  for  circulation  by  the  settlements.  There 
are  a  very  few  smaller  collections,  but  in  most  cases  the  picture  loan  library 
has  not  been  undertaken.  In  two  cases  fairly  large  collections  have  been 
given  up  because  of  the  difficulties  of  breakage  and  imcleanliness.  Could 
the  practical  difficulties  be  solved,  there  would  be  large  value  in  this 
method  of  home  and  aesthetic  development,  for  "pictures  cultivate  the 
artistic  taste  and  a  desire  for  home  adornment,  they  reach  children  and 
youth  when  impressions  are  clear  and  lasting,  and  when  noble  images  are 
held  in  the  mind." 

11.  Civic  clubs. — In  only  two  settlements  are  there  men's  civic  dubs. 
These  are  very  strong  and  have  a  large  influence  in  the  politics  of  the  ward 
and  in  neighborhood  improvement.  In  many  other  cases  the  settlements 
co-operate  effectively  in  movements  for  local  improvement,  public  health, 
and  school  extension. 

12.  Outings. — The  demand  for  summer  outings  is  now  far  in  excess  of 
the  faciUties  of  the  settlements,  and  is  rapidly  growing.  Thousands  of 
children  and  mothers  are  given  an  outing,  from  one  day  in  the  parks,  to 
two  or  three  weeks  in  a  camp  or  home.  Two  settlements  report  this  as 
the  most  developed  part  of  their  work.  While  trying  to  increase  these 
opportunities,  the  residents  of  the  settiements  are  trying  to  solve  the  problem 
of  giving  the  advantages  of  the  vacation  without  the  moral  evil  of  a  free 
charity. 

13.  Things  secured  for  the  neighborhood. — These  settlement  homes 
have  been  effective  in  securing  or  assisting  to  secure  many  public  utiUties 
in  their  neighborhoods,  and  likewise  have  been  identified  with  the  larger 
city,  state,  and  industrial  interests.  They  have  opened  five  playgrounds 
to  the  pubUc.    The  city  has  co-operated  by  fencing  the  ground  in  some 

'Seep.  34. 


64  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

cases  and  furnishing  a  policeman  for  each  playground.  The  settlements 
have  charge  of  the  grounds  and  direct  their  games.  They  have  assisted 
in  securing  four  small  parks  and  two  postal  stations.  They  have  opened 
three  dispensaries,  three  PubUc  Library  stations,  and  six  sterilized-milk 
dep6ts.  They  are  the  homes  of  three  probation  officers  and  co-operate 
with  three  members  of  the  Visiting  Nurse  Association.*  They  have  car- 
ried on  three  important  investigations  in  the  interest  of  public  health 
and  better  municipal  administration.  They  always  co-operate  with  other 
neighborhood  agencies  in  the  educational,  moral,  and  aesthetic  interests. 

14.  Other  special  features. — One  of  the  settlements  has  carried  on  a 
Tuesday  evening  free  floor  discussion  that  has  become  widely  and  favor- 
ably known.  It  pubUshes  a  monthly  magazine  "treating  current  events, 
and  promoting  industrial  justice,  efl&cient  philanthropy,  educational  free- 
dom, and  the  people's  control  of  public  utilities."  Another  has  a  labor 
museum  intended  to  illustrate  the  historical  development  of  the  various 
industries.  This  has  had  a  wholesome  influence  in  raising  the  self-esteem 
of  the  women  who  exhibit  here  the  several  textile  industries  in  which  they 
are  more  or  less  skilled,  in  gaining  for  them  the  approbation  of  their  neigh- 
bors, and  in  retaining  or  winning  back  the  respect  of  their  own  children. 

15.  An  investment  for  the  future. — The  greater  number  of  those  who 
come  to  the  settlements  are  children  and  young  people.  The  work  of 
these  centers  is,  therefore,  an  investment  for  the  future.  Most  of  them 
have  been  established  within  the  last  ten  years  and  have  been  in  operation 
too  short  a  time  to  know  the  fruits  of  their  labor.  Some,  however,  have 
been  in  operation  longer.  So  far  as  they  are  able  to  see  their  returns,  all 
the  settlements  will  probably  agree  that  the  settlement  not  merely  keeps 
the  yovmg  people  from  going  to  less  wholesome  places,  but  keeps  them 
from  wanting  to  go  to  such  places  by  supplanting  lower  with  higher  desires. 

The  settlement  not  only  awakens  a  discontent  with  inferior  physiques 
but  puts  its  patrons  in  the  way  of  possessing  better  ones.  It  not  only  opens 
the  eyes  to  se^  dirty  and  dark  streets,  broken  sidewalks  and  garbage-strewn 
alleys,  and  kindles  a  dissatisfaction  with  them,  but  also  instructs  how  to 
improve  these  conditions.  It  has  seen  homes  brighten,  communities  clean 
up,  and  municipal  administration  improve.  But  the  great  returns  can 
come  only  when  the  children  and  youth  who  now  come  in  hundreds  to 
these  wholesome  homes  shall  in  their  turn  become  the  benefactors  of  indi- 
vidual, community,  and  municipal  righteousness.  Recent  studies  of  intem- 
perance find  one  fruitful  cause  in  non-nutritious  food  poorly  cooked.  It 
may  be  that  the  work  in  domestic  science  will  prove  the  best  cure  for 

'  See  Appendix,  Table  III,  "Charities." 


HHJlipAliiy^liw.i  I  |UM, 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  65 

intemperance.  Recently  there  has  been  much  anxiety  that  young  women 
were  developing  a  distaste  for  household  duties  and  did  not  care  to  learn 
to  sew,  cook,  and  keep  house.  But  the  rapid  increase  in  the  demand  for 
instruction  in  the  home  arts  and  the  large  waiting  lists  for  every  class  furnish 
immistakable  evidence  that  home  interests  have  not  lost  their  charm. 

16.  Comparative  provision  for  different  classes. — There  may  be  some 
question  whether  the  settlements  as  a  whole  reach  all  classes  of  the  com- 
munity with  equal  effectiveness.  A  study  of  the  classes  and  clubs  of 
the  settlements  would  seem  to  justify  the  following  statements:  Girls  and 
young  women  have  more  of  their  interests  satisfied,  and  more  effectively 
satisfied,  than  any  others.  Children  receive  the  second  most  adequate 
attention;  while  the  boys  and  young  men  come  in  for  a  somewhat  less  share 
of  the  good  things,  finding  little  place  in  the  social  life,  somewhat  more  in 
the  classes,  and  a  not  unequal  part  in  the  gymnastics.  The  mothers  find 
a  less  portion,  while  the  fathers  are  provided  for  least  of  all.  These  state- 
ments may  not  apply  to  any  one  settlement,  but  we  believe  they  represent 
the  relative  provisions  by  the  settlements  as  a  whole.  It  may  be  that  the 
relative  provision  for  the  several  classes  of  persons  is  perfectly  natural  to 
the  difference  in  disposition  and  industrial  demands  between  the  sexes, 
and  to  the  different  ages.  It  may  be  that  the  fathers  have  no  disposition 
and  no  more  time  for  the  settlement  activities.  It  is  not  a  criticism,  but  a 
statement  of  fact,  that  we  wish  to  make.  It  is  not  our  desire  to  offer  advice, 
but  to  raise  a  query.  Are  the  fathers  and  mothers  as  successfully  enlisted 
as  the  sons  and  daughters  ?  The  question  is  not.  Are  they  reached  in  the 
same  way  ?  nor,  Do  they  give  as  much  time  ?  but.  Considering  the  time 
they  can  afford,  and  granting  that  they  are  the  passing  generation,  are  they 
as  well  provided  for  ? 

17.  The  settlements  and  the  public  schools. — A  study  of  the  relation  of 
the  settlements  to  the  public  schools  seems  to  show  a  tendency  for  the  settle- 
ments to  pass  on  to  the  public  schools  work  begun  in  the  settlements. 
After  developing  them  for  a  number  of  years,  three  settlements  have 
given  over  their  kindergartens  to  the  public  schools.  The  settlements 
are  assisting  very  effectively  in  making  the  public  schoolhouse  the  social 
center  of  the  neighborhood,  not  only  by  their  example,  but  in  some  cases 
by  passing  on  to  them  all  their  own  social  and  civic  activities  that  can  be 
accommodated  in  the  public-school  property.  This  is  a  splendid  example 
of  progress  through  private  initiative  followed  by  pubhc  support. 

18.  Determining  causes  oj  activities  and  location. — A  study  of  the  location 
of  the  several  settlements  and  the  nature  of  their  respective  activities  sug- 
gests the  question:   What  determines  both  their  location  and  the  kinds  of 


66  THE   HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


I 


their  activities  ?  First,  what  seems  to  determine  the  nature  of  the  activities  ? 
The  need  of  the  locaUty  and  the  temperament  of  the  people  are  controlUng 
factors  in  some  instances.  In  one  settlement  the  work  consists  nearly  all 
of  classes  in  the  English  language  and  musical  entertainments,  because  the 
neighbors  are  nearly  all  foreigners  who  are  anxious  to  know  English  and 
who  love  music.  In  another,  a  kindergarten  was  undertaken  because  it 
seemed  the  best  way  to  get  a  hold  in  the  community.  The  activities  change 
in  response  to  the  developing  tastes  and  standards  of  the  members  of  the 
settlement  community.  The  purpose  of  the  supporting  body  and  the  ideals 
of  the  chief  resident  have  a  large  part  also  in  determining  the  nature  of  the 
work,  while  the  intense  spirit  of  commercialism  and  practical  utiUty  have 
been  in  a  large  degree  responsible  for  the  great  emphasis  upon  technical 
and  domestic  science.  I 

It  is  difficult  to  answer  the  question:  Why  are  the  settlements  located 
where  they  are  ?  Only  the  history  of  the  opening  in  each  particular  case 
could  answer  adequately.  But  even  that  would  not  tell  why  they  continue 
where  they  are.  If  we  study  the  communities  in  which  the  settlements 
are  found,  we  find  them  to  be  without  exception  communities  in  which  the 
population  is  chiefly  foreign,  and  usually  a  mixed  foreign  group.  The 
districts  are  not  uniform  in  density  of  population,  for  at  least  three  of  the 
settlements  are  in  sparsely  settled  neighborhoods.  There  is  not  uniformity 
of  occupations,  for  these  vary  from  rag-pickers  to  stenographers,  from 
factory  hands  to  small  proprietors.  There  is  not  complete  equality  of 
industrial  conditions,  for  some  of  the  settlements  are  in  fairly  well-to-do 
sections.  On  the  whole,  there  seems  to  be  an  approximate  coincidence 
between  the  presence  of  the  settlement,  a  mixed  population,  chiefly  foreign, 
and  a  not  very  wide  variation  in  economic  conditions. 

Judged  by  their  opportunity,  the  effectiveness  with  which  they  reach 
so  large  a  mixed,  but  unmixing,  foreign  population,  ignorant  of  the  English 
language  and  the  duties  of  American  citizenship ;  by  the  success  with  which 
they  overcome  the  distrust  of  the  unlearned  laborer,  and  assist  him  to  know 
and  secure  his  rights,  and  also  by  the  contributions  they  are  making  to  better 
theories  of  life,  the  settlements  are  helping  to  solve  the  foreign  problem  and 
laying  the  foundation  of  a  true  democracy. 

19.  Co-operation  among  the  settlements. — There  is  a  commendable  degree 
of  effective  co-operation  among  the  settlements  and  an  increasing  apprecia- 
tion of  their  oneness  of  purpose,  together  with  a  better  realization  of  the 
relation  of  the  settlement  work  to  other  efforts  for  home,  community,  and 
city  betterment.  There  has  recently  been  formed  a  federation  of  the  setde- 
ments  holding  monthly  meetings  for  co-operative  planning  and  concerted 


SOCIAL    SETTLEMENTS  67  . 

action.  The  federation  is  a  clearing-house  of  settlement  problems.  There 
has  recently  been  opened,  under  the  management  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  a  school  for  social-science  workers  designed  especially  for  residents 
in  settlements  and  experienced  social  workers.  The  co-operation  of  the 
settlement  with  the  public  school,  the  Public  Library,  the  Juvenile  Court, 
and  the  Visiting  Niu-se  Association  is  evidence  of  a  degree  of  consciousness 
of  the  higher  Ufe  of  the  entire  city.  '■ 

20.  As  a  home. — The  principle  of  the  settlement  is  that  it  is  a  home 
among  other  homes,  that  the  residents  are  neighbors  among  neighbors, 
that  thereby  the  other  homes  and  neighbors  may  be  helped  in  the  most 
natural  way.  This,  if  we  understand  the  beginning  of  the  settlement,  was 
the  spirit  of  its  inception,  and,  if  we  did  not  misunderstand,  is  what  we  were 
frequently  told  was  the  principle  of  the  settlements  in  this  city.  The  cor- 
rectness and  the  value  of  this  claim  for  the  Chicago  settlements  have  not 
been  made  clear  to  us  during  our  visits  and  study.  It  is  pertinent  to  ask: 
What  is  the  conception  of  "home "  when  the  settlement  is  called  a" home "  ?  ... 
It  must  be  approximately  the  meaning  of  "home"  entertained  by  those 
who  are  neighbors.  A  home  must  be  much  the  same  as  the  homes  about 
it,  if  there  are  to  be  the  relations  of  natural  neighborliness. 

But  settlements  are  not  opened  in  Chicago  in  the  same  way  as  a  family 
moves  into  a  cottage  or  flat.  Their  opening  is  attended  with  suspicion — ^a 
thing  quite  unnatural  in  the  opening  of  a  home.  So  far  as  our  observation 
goes,  there  is  no  home  in  any  settlement  neighborhood  in  Chicago  that 
covers  one-half  a  block  and  consists  of  six  large  buildings;  none  have  all 
the  appliances  for  weaving,  a  labor  museum,  a  gymnasium,  a  public  play-  ' 

ground,  a  post-office,  a  coflFee  house;  in  none  are  there  a  day  nursery,  a 
kindergarten,   music   classes,   grammar-   and  high-school  classes,   clubs,  >■ 

dramatics,  and  a  theater.  Homes  do  not  have  state  charters.  Homes 
should  have  a  father,  mother,  and  children. 

Chicago  settlements  have  many  things  not  unUke  an  institution.  Many 
things  formerly  done  in  the  home  are  passed  over  to  the  pubUc  institution.  . 
As  an  educator  the  home  has  lost  its  place  to  the  pubUc  schocd;  cooking, 
sewing,  and  dressmaking  have  been  taken  out  of  the  home  into  the  restau- 
rant or  shop.  The  settlements  are  given  over  chiefly  to  the  practice  of 
those  things  that  have  been  taken  away  from  the  home,  and  are  in  no  small 
way  playing  the  part  of  passing  them  on  to  the  completely  institutionalized 
form,  the  pubUc  school. 

21.  As  a  religious  institution. — There  is  one  more  question  that  has 
been  met  several  times  during  this  study.  It  is  this:  What  should  be  the 
attitude  of  the  settlement  toward  reUgion  ?    There  are  those  who  say:  The 


■»' 


68 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


social  settlement  may  preserve  and  develop  the  body  and  the  health  of  those 
who  share  its  privileges;  it  may  oflFer  more  and  better  social  opportunities 
for  the  neighbors  than  would  otherwise  be  possible;  it  may  supplement  the 
public  school  by  classes  in  the  common  branches,  trades,  and  domestic 
science;  it  may  beautify  its  own  walls,  inspire  and  gratify  a  better  aesthetic 
sense  in  its  neighbors;  it  may  bring  about  better  relations  between  neighbor 
and  neighbor,  between  class  and  class,  between  community  and  common- 
wealth— these  are  good,  very  good;  but  without  the  completing,  gripping 
power  of  reUgion  upon  the  individual  character  the  settlement  must  fail  of 
its  highest  mission.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  those  who  are  content  to 
leave  the  religious  life  outside  their  plans.  To  take  either  position  is  to 
betray  a  wrong  view-point  for  determining  values  in  the  social  life.  It  is 
equally  incorrect  to  subordinate  the  religious  to  the  educational,  social,  and 
moral,  or  to  subordinate  these  to  the  reUgious.  The  real  question  is  not  one 
of  subordination  or  of  co-ordination,  but  of  the  fullest  expression  of  the  whole 
self.  Religion  can  be  separated  from  education  and  moraUty  only  con- 
ceptually, reflectively.  Actively  they  are  the  same  self,  at  one  time  directed 
toward  an  end  which  the  observer  calls  religious,  and  at  another  time  directed 
toward  an  end  called  intellectual  or  moral.  To  the  experiencing  mind  the 
separation  of  the  religious  and  the  non-religious  does  not  exist,  and  their 
separation  for  any  purposes  other  than  classification  is  unreal,  and  results 
in  an  attempt  to  subordinate  one  to  the  other.  But  the  social  instinct  is  no 
more  and  no  less  natural  and  worthy  than  the  intellectual,  the  intellectual 
no  more  and  no  less  worthy  than  the  moral,  and  none  of  these  are  of  more 
or  less  value  and  dignity  than  the  religious.  | 

"All  good  things 
Are  ours,  nor  soul  helps  flesh  more,  now,  than  flesh  helps  soul." 


•T!Wpp|R,..,^,Li|,,ipiliL|i|ii*j» aiRtiqipii^,  ■ 


CHAPTER  VII. 

TRADE  UNIONS. 

It  was  pointed  out  that  the  social  settlements  do  not  offer  the  day  laborer 
very  great  social  opportunities  or  training  in  civic  rights  and  duties.  This 
lack  is  partly  supplied  by  the  trade  unions  of  the  city. 

Trade  unions  are  not  designed  primarily  for  social,  intellectual,  or 
aesthetic  culture,  but  to  secure  higher  wages,  shorter  hours,  and  more  whole- 
some conditions  of  employment.  Perhaps  it  is  not  so  much  a  question  as 
to  what  trade  unions  were  primarily  organized  for,  but  their  history  shows 
they  have  worked  most  and  have  accomplished  the  greatest  things  for  the 
wealth  and  health  of  the  laborers.  The  cultural  ends  were  not  absent  from 
the  minds  of  the  earlier  trade-unionists,  nor  have  they  been  lost  sight  of, 
but  the  economic  struggle  has  been  so  severe,  and  the  health  demands  so 
imperative,  that  the  higher  life  has  had  little  chance  of  expression.  Indeed, 
there  can  be  no  high  educational,  moral,  or  aesthetic  life  until  there  is  a  healthy 
body  and  mind,  leisure  enough  to  cultivate  and  enjoy  them,  and  the  money 
to  provide  for  their  gratification.  Too  much  cannot  be  said  of  the  necessity 
of  good  wages,  hours,  and  conditions  of  employment.  But  too  little  has 
been  said  of  the  reflex  influence  of  education,  morality,  and  the  artistic 
sense  in  inspiring  to  and  securing  better  wages.  Better  conditions  of  employ- 
ment mean  a  better  mind  and  body,  which,  in  their  turn,  more  effectively 
demand  still  better  conditions  of  employment. 

Hitherto  the  more  physical  demands  of  its  members  have  received  the 
greatest  part  of  the  labor  union's  attention;  the  cultural  interests  of  the 
laborers,  a  far  less  share  of  conscious  attention.  Because  of  the  nature 
of  the  problems  at  issue,  the  methods  of  conflict  between  employees  and 
employers  have  been  chiefly  those  of  warfare.  The  strike,  boycott,  and 
lockout  were  the  weapons  that  the  situation  demanded.  When  better 
relations  seemed  to  have  been  fairly  established  as  to  wages  and  conditions 
of  employment,  and  larger  attention  was  beginning  to  be  paid  to  the  cultural 
needs  of  the  unionists,  and  when  more  peaceful  methods  of  settlement  were 
beginning  to  prevail  more  largely,  the  conflict  broke  out  anew  over  the  very 
existence  of  the  union.  In  the  last  half-decade  the  contest  has  been,  for 
the  most  part,  over  the  very  principle  of  unionism.  Severer  methods  have 
increasingly  prevailed.  This  recent  period  of  increased  activity,  this  seem- 
ing "crisis  in  the  trade-union  movement  in  America,"  may  have  been  pre- 

69 


if 


70  THE  HIGHER  LIFE   OF  CHICAGO  ., 

cipitated  by  the  radicalism  of  the  newly  organized  unions  or  by  the  alarm  of 
the  employers'  associations.  It  is  not  the  cause,  but  the  fact,  of  the  crisis 
that  we  care  to  make  clear  at  this  time.  Employers'  associations  have 
sprung  up,  a  National  Manufacturers'  Association  has  been  formed,  and 
the  lines  have  been  drawn  up  on  the  issue  of  a  "union"  or  a  "non-union" 
shop.  The  industrial  record  of  1903  shows  about  thirty  important  strikes 
in  Chicago,  of  an  average  duration  of  two  weeks,  and  involving  over  55,000 
men  and  women.*  Although  injimctions  have  frequently  been  issued 
during  this  crisis,  the  militant  activities  have  again  been  especially  dominant. 
Notwithstanding  these  warlike  activities,  there  are  some  evidences  of  life 
in  the  cultural  interests  of  the  trade  unions. 

I.  Educational  aspects. — I  have  made  a  short  inductive  study  of  what 
the  trade  unions  in  Chicago  are  doing  for  the  educational,  social,  moral,  and 
aesthetic  hfe  of  their  members.  The  figures  I  have  obtained  are  far  from 
complete,  but  may  be  taken  as  substantially  correct  so  far  as  they  go. 
Besides  sending  out  lists  of  questions  to  the  several  local  unions,  I  have 
collected  information  from  the  representative  labor  leaders  in  the  city 
through  personal  interviews  and  letters,  and  also  from  the  several  official 
trade  journals  published  in  Chicago.  I  have  not  confined  myself  to  the 
cultural  value  of  the  trade  unions  as  shown  by  one  year's  activities,  although 
the  questionnaires  were  for  one  year.  It  has  seemed  inadvisable  to  limit 
my  study  entirely  to  trade  unions  in  Chicago.  In  all  that  is  said  as  to  the 
cultural  value  of  trade  unions  I  assume  the  fundamental  place  of  higher 
wages,  shorter  hours,  and  better  conditions  of  employment,  but  as  fearlessly 
assume  also  the  reflex  influence  of  the  educational,  social,  moral,  and  aesthe- 
tic interests  upon  them. 

There  are  in  Chicago  approximately  750  local  trade  unions,  30  central 
executive  boards  or  councils,  15  national  or  international  unions,  and  i  large 
central  body,  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor,  representing  an  estimated 
total  membership  of  350,000.  I 

Although  by  tradition  and  profession  trade  unions  take  no  part  in  politics, 
this  large  body  of  well-organized  men  has  become,  through  their  central 
bodies,  a  powerful  factor  in  the  politics  of  the  city.  In  the  recent  city  elec- 
tion the  vote  of  the  trade-unionists,  under  the  leadership  of  the  central  labor 
bodies,  was  effectively  recorded  in  favor  of  immediate  mimicipal  ownership 
of  the  street  railways,  and  the  popular  election  of  members  of  the  school 
board.  A  committee  from  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor  was  in  almost 
constant  attendance  upon  the  pubUc  sessions  of  the  traction  committee  of 
the  council,  and  was  frequently  heard  in  arguments  before  it.   The  trade- 

'  International  Woodworker,  January,  1904,  p.  7. 


?'KIMHf  J'fKff^ff^**  !i;i{    i)A.''f^'^.''i«t«W-  'WITl**' 


•  •.-■   ,)■.'.      I,"'|IP-'  " 


TRADE  UNIONS  ^I 

unionists  have  never  nominated  a  party  ticket,  but  have  been  successful 
in  influencing  the  nominations  of  the  regular  poUtical  parties.  Though 
not  a  party,  labor  organizations  are  effectively  in  poUtics.  Their  representa- 
tives appear  before  committees  and  oflScers  of  Congress,  while  a  legislative 
committee  is  maintained  in  the  capitals  of  many  states.  It  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that  nearly  all  labor  legislation,  such  as  child-labor  laws,  factory 
inspection,  the  eight-hour  day  in  government  work,  the  prohibition  of  the 
immigration  of  cheap  labor,  is  to  be  credited  to  the  labor  organizations. 

The  influence  of  organized  labor  in  poUtics  has  not  only  secured  for  it 
better  conditions  of  labor,  but  has  been  a  powerful  factor  in  the  educational 
and  moral  improvement  of  the  workers.  We  shall  now  take  up  a  more 
detailed  study  of  the  educational  value  of  trade  unions,  giving  some  par- 
ticular facts  about  the  Chicago  locals. 

The  initiative  and  referendum  has  been  almost  universally  adopted 
by  the  central  bodies  of  the  labor  unions.  All  propositions  and  legislation 
are  made  by  popular  vote.  This  is  a  great  source  of  education.  As  soon 
as  men  are  given  a  chance  to  vote  on  things  that  concern  their  welfare,  they 
begin  to  think;  and  as  soon  as  they  begin  to  think,  their  minds  begin  to 
broaden.  The  several  locals  discuss  the  things  submitted  to  them  according 
to  the  referendum  plan  through  their  national  or  international  bodies,  and 
discuss  them  according  to  the  rules  of  any  legislative  assembly. 

In  addition  to  the  discussions  on  propositions  from  the  central  bodies, 
the  locals  have  discussions  and  lectures  on  all  topics  of  interest  to  the  work- 
ingman.  I  sent  a  Ust  of  questions  to  450  local  trade  unions  in  Chicago, 
and  received  replies  from  55.  These  55  reported  a  membership  of  26,456 
men  and  660  women.  They  hold  123  meetings  per  month,  with  an  average 
attendance  per  meeting  for  all  the  55  locals  of  6,960,  or  about  one-fourth 
of  their  total  membership.  Forty-three  locals  reported  having  general 
discussions  each  evening,  in  which  an  average  of  2,358  persons,  or  about 
one-third  of  the  average  attendance,  took  part.  This  is  very  significant  as 
showing  that  not  only  the  leaders,  but  also  a  very  large  percentage  of 
those  present,  occupy  the  floor  and  express  themselves  on  topics  of  interest. 
This  fact,  added  to  the  referendum  method  of  legislation,  stamps  the  trade 
union  as  a  most  important  force  making  for  an  inteUigent  democracy. 

I  tried  also  to  obtain  information  as  to  what  subjects  were  most  fre- 
quently discussed  in  the  local  unions.  To  do  this  I  inserted  this  request: 
"Draw  a  line  under  five  of  the  chief  subjects  discussed:  strikes,  wages, 
shorter  hours,  union  shops,  sociaUsm,  anarchy,  municipal  ownership,  taxa- 
tion, arbitration,  imion  label."  In  answer,  22  unions  imderlined  "strikes "  as 
among  the  five  chief  topics;  45  underlined  "wages;"  43,  "shorter  hours;" 


^i 


72  '  THE   HIGHER  LIFE  OF   CHICAGO 

37,  "union  shops;"  7,  "socialism;"  2,  "anarchy;"  23,  "municipal  own- 
ership;" 10,  "taxation;"  20,  "arbitration;"  35,  "union  label."  Twenty- 
four  locals  reported  having  had  210  general  lectures  during  the  last  year, 
while  23  reported  having  none.  These  figures  concerning  the  chief  sup- 
jects  discussed  must  not  be  taken  for  more  than  they  mean,  but  they  con- 
tain a  striking  suggestion  as  to  the  answer  to  the  charge  that  labor  unions 
discuss  nothing  but  anarchy  and  socialism.  They  further  suggest  that 
to  the  standard  topic  of  wages  and  hours  were  added  the  current  topics  of 
union  shop,  union  label,  and  municipal  ownership.  These  discussions 
call  attention  to  the  educational  role  of  trade  unions  and  prepare  us  to 
accept  the  statement  of  two  of  the  best-known  labor  leaders  in  Chicago 
that  they,  as  well  as  many  other  men,  have  obtained  nearly  all  their  educa- 
tion in  the  labor  unions.  | 

In  the  cigar-makers'  trade  every  well-regulated  shop  has  a  regular 
reader,  and  is  furnished  with  a  dictionary  and  a  file  of  magazines.  We 
were  assured  by  the  general  secretary  of  the  Amalgamated  Wood  Workers' 
International  Union  of  America  that  75  per  cent,  of  all  their  members  read 
the  official  journal  of  their  craft.  There  are  published  in  Chicago  five 
official  journals  for  their  respective  trades. 

2.  Moral  and  social  aspects. — In  addition  to  the  more  distinctly  educa- 
tional activities  of  the  trade  unions,  they  are  conducive  to  individual,  home, 
and  community  virtues.  When  the  shorter  day  was  first  demanded,  it 
was  charged  that  the  workingman  would  spend  his  spare  time  and  wages 
in  saloons  or  other  unwholesome  places.  But  instead  he  has  engaged  in 
useful  ways  of  self-improvement.  He  reads  more  books  and  papers, 
enjoys  now  the  comforts  of  his  home,  and  has  become  a  more  useful  and 
intelUgent  neighbor  and  citizen.  As  he  has  advanced  intellectually,  he 
has  entered  into  better  relations  to  all  the  community  interests,  and  is 
demanding  the  recognition  due  him  as  a  man. 

Eight  hours  instead  of  ten  means  one  hour  more  in  the  morning  and 
an  added  hour  in  the  evening.  The  morning  hour  means  more  rest  and 
sleep,  especially  for  the  wife,  who  formerly  had  to  get  up  much  earUer  to 
prepare  breakfast.  The  evening  hour  means  recreation  and  out-of-doors 
for  the  mother  and  children.  Not  only  have  the  labor  unions  thus  made 
the  home  life  happier,  but  they  have  done  much  to  secure  equal  wages  for 
men  and  women  for  the  same  work,  thus  doing  much  to  elevate  women  in 
the  industrial  system. 

It  has  been  repeatedly  charged  that  trade  unions  encourage  lawlessness 
and  violence.  These  charges  have  as  often  been  denied.  Acts  of  violence 
have  been  officially  condemned  in  at  least  two  recent  cases:  the  Carriage 


•  L.ijiJi|ypiii  .uwu,; 


TRADE  UNIONS 


-.J -;-'.;, -:..! 


73 


and  Wagon  Makers'  Union  of  Chicago  recently  disciplined  one  of  its 
members  for  an  assault  upon  a  non-union  man,  while  the  Packing  Trades 
Council  adopted  the  following  resolutions: 

Whereas,  The  American  labor  movement  can  best  protect  and  advance  the 
interest  of  the  workers  by  advocating  and  insisting  upon  a  strict  observance  of 
the  law  by  all  its  members;  therefore  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  Packing  Trades  Council  of  Chicago  and  vicinity  depre- 
cates any  methods  of  violence  by  any  member  or  members  of  organized  labor. 

Recently  much  has  been  done  to  show  how  the  demands  of  railroad 
companies  and  other  emplopng  associations  have  lessened  intemperance 
among  workingmen.  Credit  has  also  been  claimed  for  the  insurance 
companies  in  refusing  many  and  discouraging  all  risks  where  intoxicating 
drinks  are  used.  But  the  trade  unions  have  also  contributed  to  this 
decrease  in  intemperance.  The  president  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  Inter- 
national Union  declares  that  "drunkenness  and  excessive  intemperance 
have  decreased  in  proportion  as  labor  organizations  hb.ve  increased." 
While  admitting  that  this  decrease  of  intemperance  cannot  be  demonstrated 
from  statistics — because  such  have  never  been  kept — he  declares  that  the 
testimony  of  those  who  have  observed  the  effect  of  labor  organizations 
upon  the  practice  of  drinking  will  confirm  the  proposition.  Among  the 
things  that  have  been  observed  are  the  followdng:  Formerly  when  men 
worked  ten  hours  per  day  they  took  their  periodic  day  off,  which  for  many 
of  them  meant  a  dnmk  of  from  one-half  day  to  two  days.  Their  working 
strength  seemed  to  last  only  about  so  long;  then  they  sought  relaxation  in 
a  spree.  Now,  under  the  eight-hour  day,  the  men  work  the  full  week, 
having  their  rest  distributed  throughout  the  week,  perhaps  an  hour  in  the 
morning  and  an  hour  in  the  evening.  They  do  not  completely  exhaust 
themselves,  as  they  formerly  did;  they  do  not  so  easily  yield  to  the  tempta- 
tion to  take  a  day  off.  When  they  do  drink  now,  they  seldom  miss  more 
than  half  a  day,  often  only  an  hour,  and  quite  as  often  no  time  at  all. 

The  moral  effect  of  the  lessening  of  drunkenness  and  excessive  intem- 
perance is  seen  also  in  the  increased  respect  the  men  have  for  themselves, 
and  in  the  new  and  awakened  pride  they  have  in  their  homes.  The  money 
saved  from  this  waste  enables  the  man  to  provide  pictures,  books,  papers, 
and  magazines  for  the  home,  and  better  clothes  and  opportunities  for  his 
wife  and  children.  In  the  morning  he  leaves  a  better  and  a  happier  home; 
he  goes  to  work  a  better  and  stronger  man.  I 

The  decrease  in  intemperance  due  to  the  labor  organization  is  attested 
by  the  Industrial  Commission  appointed  by  Congress  in  1900.    It  says: 

A  very  important  consequence  of  the  establishment  of  labor  bureaus  by  trade 
unions  is  the  aboUtion  of  the  former  practice  of  using  liquor  saloons  as  interme- 


/ 


-^ 


74  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO  t 

dieiries  in  securing  employment,  and  also  as  places  for  the  payment  of  wages. 
This  has  had  a  decided  effect  in  reducing  the  amount  of  drinking.'  .  | 

To  determine  to  how  large  an  extent  the  labor  organizations  in  Chicago 
have  provided  a  labor  bureau  and  a  place  for  the  payment  of  the  checks 
of  their  members,  I  asked  the  following  questions:  " Does  your  local  have 
a  'labor  bureau'  ?  Does  your  local  cash  the  checks  of  its  members  ?  If 
so,  what  percentage  cashes  them  there  ?  What  percentage  cashes  them  at 
a  store  ?  At  a  saloon  ?"  Forty-one  answered  the  first  question,  and  only 
14  have  a  labor  bureau.  The  replies  on  the  other  questions  were  not 
satisfactory,  and  only  approximations  can  be  given.  Most  of  the  men 
received  their  pay  in  money,  but  of  the  17  unions  that  cash  the  checks  of 
their  members  2  reported  cashing  them  all,  while  others  cashed  from  5 
to  50  per  cent.  Of  the  10  reporting,  35  per  cent,  was  the  average  number 
who  cashed  their  checks  at  a  store.  Of  the  13  reporting,  2  believed  none 
cashed  their  checks  at  a  saloon,  while  of  11  others  an  average  of  24  per 
cent,  cashed  them  at  a  saloon.* 

In  the  by-laws  of  riost  of  the  unions  it  is  declared  that  members  will 
be  disciplined  for  any  disorderly  conduct.  In  an  attempt  to  find  out  to 
what  extent  this  was  actually  done,  I  asked  the  question:  "How  many 
times  within  the  last  year  have  you  disciplined  a  member  for  intemperance, 
drunkenness,  profanity,  or  other  improper  conduct  ?  "  Forty-four  answered 
the  question;  of  these,  17  have  disciplined  64  members. 

Closely  allied  to  the  proposition  that  the  labor  unions  have  tended  to 
decrease  intemperance  is  the  corollary  that  they  have  tended  to  lengthen  the 
life  of  the  wage-earners.  The  president  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  International 
Union  reaches  the  following  conclusions: 

1  The  vital  statistics  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  International  Union  for  the  decade 

'  1890-1900  show  that,  despite  the  intense  struggle  engendered  by  the  present 

method  of  production  and  distribution,  and  the  tremendous  wear  and  tear  on 

;  one's  nervous  and  physical  resources,  the  average  longevity  of  our  members  has 

increased.  The  figures  show  that  in  ten  years  the  average  length  of  life  of  mem- 
bers of  the  union  has  increased  just  six  years,  and  that  the  average  length  of  the 

'  life  of  the  wives  and  mothers  has  increased  eight  years.  I 

I .  The  percentage  of  those  who  died  from  consumption — the  great  enemy 

•  '  of  the  cigar-maker — fell  from  49  to  33  per  cent,  in  the  same  decade.     These 

'  gratifying  results  are  "due  chiefly  to  two  causes — the  improved  condition 

|:  :                                of  the  members,  and  the  shortening  of  the  hours  of  labor. "3 

i   ;  « Industrial  Commission  Report,  Vol.  XIX,  p.  759. 

y  '  '  I  do  not  consider  these  figures  on  the  labor  bureau  and  the  cashing  of  checks  of  much  value,  because 

i"  they  are  too  few  and  are  only  estimated  by  those  reporting. 

Y  '.:  i  Report  of  the  president  of  the  Cigar  Makers'  Union  for  the  five  years  ending  September  i,  1901. 


TRADE  UNIONS  75 

Along  with  increasing  temperance  and  length  of  life  goes  decrease  of 
charitable  public  relief  for  the  wage-earner  and  his  family.  If  charity 
degrades,  then  trade  unions  tend  to  save  men  from  degradation.  The 
West  Side  District  of  the  Bureau  of  Charities  contains  a  population  of 
about  300,000.  During  the  last  two  years  the  number  of  cases  which  have 
received  attention  from  the  bureau  in  this  district  has  been  about  7,000, 
only  ten  or  eleven  of  which  were  members  of  the  trade  unions. 

The  chairman  of  such  relief  work  [for  the  unemployed]  in  Chicago  during 
the  severe  season  of  1893-94  reported  that  not  a  single  member  of  a  trade  union 
in  that  city  applied  for  aid  to  the  charity  or  philanthropic  organizations  at  a  time 
when  thousands  of  honest  workmen  had  to  be  helped  by  these  agencies.' 

The  implication  of  these  sweeping  testimonies  must  be  somewhat 
modified  because  of  the  fact  that  the  least-paid,  unskilled  laborers,  those 
who  would  come  upon  public  charity,  are  not  now,  and  much  less  in  1893-94 
were,  organized  into  trade  unions.  It  was,  and  still  is,  the  better-paid 
trades  that  are  well  organized.  However,  it  will  scarcely  be  doubted  that 
trade  unions  have  been  powerful  in  decreasing  public  charity  to  the  unionist 
and  his  family. 

This  caring  for  their  members  leads  us  very  naturally  to  speak  of  the 
benefit  features  of  trade  unions.  About  forty  out  of  a  total  of  less  than 
a  hundred  national  unions  in  America  pay  a  death  benefit,  while  only  about 
one  dozen  pay  a  sick  benefit.  A  still  smaller  number  pay  tool  insvu-ance, 
out-of-work,  traveling,  and  local  benefits.  At  present  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  compare  the  trade-union  method  of  insurance  with  any  other  method, 
for  the  following  reasons:  (i)  the  number  and  kinds  of  benefits  are  not  the 
same  as  any  other  method;  (2)  the  American  unions  do  not  have  their 
systems  completely  enough  worked  out  to  afford  a  basis  of  comparison 
with  the  British  or  any  other  system  of  trade  insurance;  (3)  the  dues  and 
assessments  of  nearly  all  the  unions  are  available  for  other  purposes  than 
benefits,  and  are  not  divided  up  as  dividends  to  the  several  kinds  of  bene- 
fits; (4)  the  reports  of  this  incomplete  system  are  too  meager,  and  the 
accoimts  are  kept  in  too  many  different  ways,  to  fiunish  adequate  statistics 
for  comparison.  Comparison  with  other  methods  of  insurance  is,  there- 
fore, almost  impossible. 

Despite  the  difficulty  of  comparing  the  cost  and  value  of  the  trade- 
union  system  of  benefits  with  any  other  method  of  insurance,  it  cannot  be 
doubted  that  it  has  been  of  value  in  fighting  the  battles  of  labor,  and  in 
protecting  those  who  are  reached  by  it  from  want.  But  another  question 
should  be  asked,  viz. :  What  can  be  said  of  the  efficiency  of  trade-union 

'  E.  W.  Bemis  in  Bulletin  of  the  Department  0}  Labor.  No.  33,  Vol.  IV,  1899,  p.  400. 


76  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  (JF  CHICAGO  '■ 

insurance  in  America  in  reaching  the  majority  of  the  working  classes, 
regardless  of  the  comparative  costs?  A  few  general  facts  may  throw  a 
little  light  upon  this  point.  Only  about  20  per  cent,  of  the  laboring  people 
in  the  United  States  belong  to  any  trade  union.  The  other  80  per  cent, 
do  not  have  whatever  assistance  the  union  may  give  to  its  members,  and 
if  the  method  was  the  very  best,  it  would  do  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
American  laborers  any  good.  But  less  than  one-half  of  those  who  belong 
to  any  union  have  any  insiurance.  This  brings  the  proportion  of  insured 
down  to  about  10  per  cent.  Now,  when  it  is  remembered  that  not  all  these 
have  benefits  on  all  the  needs  of  the  laborers,  the  adequacy  of  the  insurance 
for  those  10  per  cent,  is  not  all  that  is  to  be  desired.  But  those  who  are 
insured  even  in  this  incomplete  way  are  those  who  receive  the  highest 
wages,  are  the  most  intelligent,  and  could  best  afford  to  do  without  the 
insurance;  while  the  90  per  cent,  who  live  nearest  the  line  of  dependency 
are  without  any  form  of  insurance.  Those  whose  wages  are  lowest  and 
most  precarious  are  without  the  trade  insvirance.  These  it  is  who  come 
upon  the  public  charity  when  sickness,  accident,  death,  old  age,  or  vmem- 
ployment  overtakes  them.  It  has  been  impossible  to  obtain  insurance- 
benefit  statistics  of  the  unions  in  Chicago,  but  they  have  shared  in  the 
value  of  the  system  of  benefits,  however  great,  or  however  limited,  they 
may  be. 

On  the  whole,  we  have  seen  that  the  trade  unions  have  increased  the 
private,  home,  and  community  virtues  of  their  members.  In  general,  they 
have  developed  a  more  intelligent  body  of  workmen,  and  have  produced  a 
higher  grade  of  morality.  They  have  brought  about  a  better  class-con- 
sciousness on  the  part  of  the  wage-earners.  But  a  mistaken  number  of 
trade-unionists  have  learned  their  class  line  so  well  that  they  can  see  no 
community  of  interest  between  themselves  and  their  employers.  These 
constantly  cry  class  against  class,  and  are  by  so  much  contradicting  the 
greater  and  far  better  efforts  of  the  trade  unions  to  bring  about  a  true 
democracy. 

It  has  been  frequently  said  of  late  that  the  chvurches  are  not  reaching 
the  laboring  people,  and  there  exists  a  certain  degree  of  ill-feeling  and 
suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  wage-earner  toward  the  church.  This  suspicion 
took  the  form  of  action  in  the  recent  refusal  by  the  Chicago  Federation  of 
Labor  to  allow  ministers  to  sit  as  fraternal  delegates  in  its  meetings.  Three 
trade-union  officials  in  Chicago  assured  the  writer  that  the  trade  union  is 
doing  far  more  for  its  members  than  is  any  church.  It  is  not  the  truth 
or  falsity,  but  the  undoubted  presence,  of  this  belief  that  I  desire  to  leave 
with  the  reader.  ' 


';||^1II!,i|IK;i)i,i)i.iii  itf^lglJfi^m^^m^ls^ll^mKmt^li^fm^imfl^WKi) 


TRADE   UNIONS 


n 


There  can  be  no  doubt  that  trade  unions  have  done  much  for  the 
educational,  social,  and  moral  improvement  of  their  members.  But, 
partly  because  of  the  severity  of  the  combat  for  the  more  material  things, 
the  unions  have  not  been  able  to  co-operate  for  the  same  lines  of  community 
improvement.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  interests  of  school  extension, 
of  municipal  aesthetic  improvement,  and  of  intelligent  conmiunity  charity 
and  philanthropy  have  come  to  the  consciousness  of  the  trade-vmionists. 
The  values  of  the  social  settlements  and  the  civic  dubs  have  reached  only 
a  small  portion  of  the  membership,  while  suspicion  has  in  a  measvure  pre- 
vented effective  co-operation  even  in  these  fields.  It  may  be  that  no  more 
can  at  present  be  asked  than  the  trade  unions  are  doing  for  the  higher  life 
of  theu:  members,  but  there  are  a  larger  outlook  and  a  broader  sympathy 
that  are  not  adequately  appreciated  by  either  party  to  the  industrial  con- 
flict. There  is  a  larger  degree  of  co-operation  for  the  higher  life  of  the 
city  yet  to  be  realized  when  better  economic  conditions  shall  have  been 
secured. 


-  ^Hlflinil.UijPlpWKjtVn^^.  1.1  lipjuua^ .  141 ' 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


CHARITIES.' 

Charity  springs  from  sympathy.  Unless  perverted,  the  motive  from 
which  it  comes  is  praiseworthy  and  should  be  developed  and  actualized. 
But  if  the  intellect  has  no  part  in  charity,  the  results  may  be  as  immoral, 
as  vicious,  as  acts  in  which  base  emotions  prevail  without  any  intellectual 
check.  Sympathetic  but  non-intelligent  charity  is  only  a  special  case  of 
the  immoral  act — immoral  because  it  is  not  the  expression  of  the  whole 
self  of  the  giver.  But  it  is  not  sufl&cient  that  feeling  be  guided  by  the  intel- 
lect. An  intelligent  decision  under  a  sympathetic  impulse,  whether  it  be 
to  give  or  not  to  give,  is  immoral  until  it  embodies  the  will  in  the  completion 
of  the  act.  Not  only  must  the  emotional,  intellectual,  and  volitional 
activities  be  combined,  but  they  must  be  combined  at  their  highest  powers 
and  with  the  largest  situation  that  the  individual  can  take  into  account. 
The  completely  moral  act,  charitable  or  otherwise,  is  the  fullest  expression 
of  the  completest  self  in  the  largest  whole  that  the  individual  can  take  into 
account.  To  give  may  be  as  immoral  as  not  to  give;  to  give  unthinkingly 
may  be  more  injurious  than  unfeelingly  to  refuse;  to  give  after  partial 
consideration  of  only  part  of  the  factors  and  probable  results  is  to  fall  short 
of  the  highest  morality.  But  no  less  immoral  is  it  to  dissipate  action  in 
feeling  and  thinking.  In  situations  that  call  for  action,  nothing  less  than 
action  can  satisfy  the  demands  of  morality.  Inasmuch  as  every  moral 
act  is  the  expression  of  the  whole  or  largest  self,  the  best  charity  is  the 
expression  of  the  whole  self,  and  we  come  upon  the  poet's  prophetic  expres- 
sion of  the  rediscovered  truth: 

"  The  gift  without  the  giver  is  bare; 
Who  gives  himself  with  his  alms  feeds  three — 
Himself,  his  hungering  neighbor,  and  Me." 

The  charitable  societies  and  institutions  in  the  city,  founded  upon  the 
spiritual  quality  of  sympathy,  representing  a  more  or  less  adequate  expres- 
sion of  the  emotional,  intellectual,  and  volitional  elements  of  the  altruistic 
commimity-consciousness,  and  more  or  less  completely  taking  into  account 

'  In  the  Appendix  will  be  foiind  a  classified  directory  of  what  have  seemed  to  the  writer  the  most 
important  of  these  agencies,  together  with  some  facts  concerning  them.  This  directory,  and  the  discussion 
of  the  societies  and  institutions,  are  based  upon  such  reports  and  files  of  information  as  have  been  accessr- 
ible  and  cannot  be  considered  entirely  complete.  There  are  many  worthy  small  charities  that  could  be 
included,  while  some  of  the  accessible  reports  are  not  up  to  date.  The  directory  is  believed,  however, 
to  represent  approximately  the  charities  of  the  city. 

78 


.  ii,jj»  HI  p.  w  iRM^t^^^fm^ 


CHARITIES  \  .  79 


1 


the  whole  of  conditions  and  resvdts,  are  a  part  of  its  higher  Kfe.  For  the 
purpose  of  this  paper,  a  detailed  study  of  the  individual  societies  and  insti- 
tutions is  not  desirable.  I  shall  first  describe  briefly  three!  of  the  chief 
charitable  societies,  and  then  treat  the  remaining  societies  and  institutions 
by  groups,  following  the  outUne  used  in  the  directory  already  referred  to. 
I.  The  Chicago  Bureau  oj  Chanties  is  the  only  charity-organization 
society  in  Chicago,  in  the  technical  sense  of  the  term.  The  bureau  was 
organized  in  1894.     Its  objects  are 

to  promote  co-operation  among  the  philanthropic  forces  of  the  city;  to  secure 
adequate  knowledge  concerning  every  applicant  for  relief;  to  organize  a  body  of 
volunteer  friendly  visitors;  to  befriend  the  poor  and  help  the  unemployed  to  a 
position  of  self-support;  to  prevent  imposition  and  fraud;  to  stimulate  and  par- 
ticipate in  movements  for  improving  conditions  of  life  in  the  city. 

To  reaUze  these,  the  work  is  organized  through  a  staff  of  officers  and  general 
committees,  a  general  office,  and  eleven  districts,  each  having  a  district 
superintendent,  officers,  council,  and  workers. 

The  bureau  strives  to  supplement  the  work  of  all  the  other  charitable 
agencies  in  the  city  and  bind  them  together  in  a  coherent  whole.  It  would 
do  for  all  the  things  which  all  require  in  common;  it  would  serve  as  a 
gatherer  of  all  kinds  of  information,  to  be  drawn  upon  freely  by  every  society 
or  citizen.  It  conceives  other  societies  as  co-operators,  not  as  rivals,  and 
desires  to  promote  understanding,  confidence,  and  the  most  effective 
division  of  labor.  * 

In  accordance  with  this  ideal,  the  bureau  has  sought  the  co-operation  of 
charitable  organizations,  whenever  possible,  and  offered  assistance  wherever  I 

it  could  serve.    An  illustration  of  this  co-operation  is  seen  in  the  policy  of  ■ 

focusing  upon  a  given  destitute  family  all  the  kinds  of  help  needed  and  in 
the  order  best  calculated  to  make  the  family  self-supporting.     In  such  a 

case  the  bureau  desires  to  draw  each  kind  of  assistance  from  the  society  j 

best  suited  to  furnish  it.  This  co-operative  charity  shows,  for  the  year 
ending  May,  31,  1903,  3,708  cases'  in  which  assistance  was  given  on  con- 
sultation with  the  bureau  or  upon  its  recommendation — an  increase  of  30 
per  cent,  over  that  of  the  previous  year.  This  co-operation  was  used  in 
indoor  rehef  as  well.  In  the  course  of  the  year  866  persons  were  admitted 
to  the  charitable  institutions  of  the  city  or  state  through  the  mediation  of 
the  bureau — an  increase  of  20  per  cent,  over  the  previous  year. 

The  bureau  co-operates  with  the  legal-aid  societies  and  the  Juvenile 

'  Of  these  3>7o8  instances  of  co-operation  in  outdoor  relief,  17.S  per  cent,  were  by  churches,  23  per 
cent,  by  societies,  16.5  per  cent,  by  individuals,  14  per  cent,  by  nurses,  16  per  cent,  by  physicians,  8  per 
cent,  by  the  county  agent,  and  5  per  cent,  by  other  agencies.  See  Ninth  Annual  Report  of  the  Chicago 
Btireau  of  Charities,  from  which  all  the  figures  are  taken. 


I 


.'.WI<.^Vip|MiyUfl1  ^«^ 


" '«;  J-  »i    imwi^i  I u,pi I   ji'TO!^5ft«jij;^ppi»r 


i»«"«ww^r»» 


80 


THE   HIGHER   LIFE   OF   CHICAGO 


ii.jjnvii'iWHIijq^. 


Court,  having  assisted  in  the  last  year  in  the  adjustment  of  legal  diflSculties 
in  427  famiUes.  It  assisted  the  Board  of  County  Commissioners  in  main- 
taining two  vegetable  gardens  of  forty  acres  each,  giving  light,  healthful 
employment  to  the  heads  of  over  200  families,  and  benefiting  in  some 
degree  about  1,000  persons.  In  its  summer  outing  work  it  has  the  assis- 
tance of  the  hospitable  country  people  and  the  generous  city  people;  of  the 
railway,  street-car,  and  steamboat  lines;  of  physicians  and  trained  workers 
from  schools,  churches,  settlements,  and  clubs;  of  church  and  neighbor- 
hood committees,  and  of  the  Chicago  Daily  News  Fresh  Air  Fund.  The 
number  of  active  volunteers  on  the  district  councils,  the  executive,  and  ways 
and  means  committees,  who  give  their  time,  reaches  400.  This  generous 
co-operation  made  possible,  during  the  summer  of  1903,  3,365  country 
outings,  1,934  camp  outings — a  week's  camp  or  cottage  life  for  a  family — 
and  7,152  day  outings.  It  has  the  assistance  of  the  Chicago  Penny  Savings 
Society  in  the  development  of  a  system  encouraging  thrift  recently  put  into 
operation  in  seven  of  the  largest  districts  under  the  bureau's  management. 

It  is  the  policy  of  the  bureau  to  devote  its  own  efforts  chiefly  to  the  innumerable 
phases  of  helpfulness  which  lie  outside  the  field  of  material  aid,  relying  upon 
co-operative  agencies  whose  purpose  is  primarily  the  giving  of  material  aid,  for 
that  character  of  help. 

In  these  many  ministrations,  the  reUef  may  be  given  directly  to  the 
beneficiary  upon  recommendation  by  the  bureau,  or  money  may  be  intrusted 
to  the  bureau  to  be  used  for  special  purposes.  Under  the  former  class  is 
the  recommendation  to  the  railroad  companies  of  certain  applicants  for 
half-fare  rates  on  charity  account.  During  the  past  year  the  bureau  was 
called  upon  to  decide  the  merits  of  about  1,800  such  applications,  1,214  of 
which  were  favorably  determined  and  the  transportation  given.  Under 
the  latter  class  are  the  special  and  emergency  funds,  amoimting  during  the 
year  to  $17,806,  and  supplies  of  coal,  amounting  during  the  year  to  1,300 
tons.  These  emergency  aids  enable  the  bureau  to  furnish  immediate 
relief  in  special  cases,  and  "its  agents  are  authorized  at  all  times  to  spend 
whatever  sum  may  be  necessary  to  stop  suflFering  without  delay  and  to 
care  for  immediate  needs."  Such  emergency  relief  was  given  in  4,090 
cases  during  the  last  year.  '  I 

To  this  class  of  special  sums  intrusted  to  the  bureau  belongs  a  system 
of  small  pensions.  Old  people  who  can  earn  only  part  of  their  living,  and 
widows  with  a  family  of  young  children  whose  income  must  be  supplemented 
in  order  that  the  children  may  be  properly  clothed  and  schooled,  and  the 
mother  have  some  hours  to  devote  to  the  children  and  the  home — these 
classes  are  recommended  to  charitably  disposed  people  for  small  pensions 


r 


lemwi  JUA'Tm^^mmn^mmfr  vifJt^'-i-K'ii  ^^mfn^^mm 


CHARITIES  8l 

for  which  the  bureau  is  glad  to  become  the  trustee  and  dispenser.  The 
bureau  beUeves  this  method  of  helpfuhiess  is  worthy  of  judicious  expansion. 

The  bureau  maintains  an  inquiry  department  through  which  it  endeav- 
ors to  collect  accurate  information  concerning  charitable  institutions, 
agencies,  and  movements  throughout  the  city,  and  place  the  facts  thus 
gathered  at  the  service  of  interested  citizens.  The  increased  use  of  this 
department  indicates  that  it  serves  a  genuine  need,  and  it  is  hoped  it  will 
prove  valuable  in  giving  information  concerning,  and  increasing  the  support 
of,  the  deserving  charities  of  the  city. 

The  brief  exhibit  of  the  work  of  the  bureau  marks  it  out  as  a  great 
clearing-house  of  reliable  information  for  charitable  societies  and  workers, 
and  for  benevolent  citizens.  Its  progress  and  growth  are  indisputable 
evidence  of  its  value  and  efficiency.  Its  spirit  and  works  of  co-operation 
testify  to  a  high  degree  of  effective  community-consciousness.  While  the 
bureau  co-operates  in  all  the  charitable  work  of  the  city,  it  is  scarcely  less 
interested  in  all  the  things  that  make  for  the  better  life  of  the  city. 

Among  the  agencies  that  co-operated  with  the  bureau  during  the  last 
year  are  found  ii8  churches,  45  public  schools,  20  general  societies,  15  relief 
societies,  32  hospitals  and  dispensaries,  13  institutions  for  children, 14  lodges, 
orders,  and  unions,  17  clubs,  and  21  settlements  and  institutional  churches. 
The  bureau,  through  its  representatives,  has  participated  in  various  pubUc 
movements  to  improve  conditions  of  life  in  the  city.  The  more  important 
of  these  are  the  Children's  Hospital  Society  of  Chicago,  the  Committee  for 
the  Prevention  of  Tuberculosis,  the  City  Homes  Association,  the  Milk 
Conimission,  the  Chicago  Tribune  Ice  Fund,  the  Cook  County  Child- 
Saving  Conference,  the  Citizens'  Committee  for  the  Reorganization  of  the 
Dunning  Institutions,  and  the  committee  which  prepared  and  presented 
to  the  legislature  the  child-labor  bill  which  is  now  the  law  of  the  state. 
InteUigent  co-operation  and  enUghtened  community-consciousness  stand 
out  as  characteristics  of  the  Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities. 

2.  The  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society. — As  the  Chicago  Biu-eau  of 
Charities  is  the  great  charity-organization  society,  so  the  Chicago  Relief 
and  Aid  Society  is  the  great  general-relief  society  of  the  city.  This  society 
was  founded  in  1857.  It  assumed  the  disbursement  of  the  great  fire  fund 
contributed  for  the  relief  of  the  sufiferers  from  the  great  fire  of  October  9, 
1 87 1.  The  society  has  an  income  from  endowments  sufl&cient  to  meet  its 
expenses,  so  that  all  money  given  to  it  goes  directly  to  relief  work. 

The  Rehef  and  Aid  Society  does  not  undertake  to  care  for  paupers, 
defectives,  dependents,  and  deUnquents.  These  are  referred  to  the  proper 
public  institutions  when  they  apply  to  the  society.     It  confines  its  efforts 


.  y.»jpr^wi>^>T^^^ww^ 


8a  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

to  the  temporary  reUef  of  respectable  poverty,  or  of  people  who  are  usually 
self-supporting,  but  who  in  seasons  of  business  depression,  severity  of 
weather,  enforced  idleness,  unusual  sickness,  or  death  in  the  family  are  in 
distress,  and  who  with  timely  aid  will  become  and  continue  to  be  self- 
supporting.  Exceptions  are  made  in  favor  of  the  sick,  aged,  and  infirm, 
widows  with  large  families,  and  deserted  women  with  children.  It  is 
these  classes  that  the  society  assists,  irrespective  of  religion,  nationality,  or 
color.  I 

The  society  discourages  indiscriminate  giving.  It  investigates  thor- 
oughly all  applicants  in  their  homes  and  through  their  references.  The 
reports  are  kept  on  file.    More  than  160,000  cases  are  thus  recorded. 

The  society  has  for  many  years  maintained  a  woodyard,  both  as  a 
labor  test  and  as  a  means  of  enabling  respectable  people  to  earn  their 
living.  Here  2,123  single  men  and  126  married  men  were  given  work 
during  the  year  ending  October  31,  1903.  An  employment  bureau  is 
maintained,  through  which  500  men  found  employment  dvuing  the  same 
year.  The  society  owns  200  beds  in  various  private  hospitals  in  the  city, 
where  2,289  days'  care,  representing  a  charity  of  about  $1,962,  was  given; 
22  rooms  in  the  Old  People's  Home,  fully  occupied;  and  certain  rights  in 
the  Home  for  the  Friendless,  to  which  89  women  and  178  children  were 
sent  during  the  last  year.  This  indoor  reUef  is  a  valuable  part  of  its  work. 
The  society  co-operates  with  the  various  railroad  companies  in  assisting 
invalids  and  those  who  have  become  stranded  in  the  city  to  reach  their 
friends  elsewhere,  117  persons  being  thus  assisted  during  the  year  ending 
October  31,  1903.  | 

The  society  investigates  promptly  any  appUcation  for  relief  referred  to  it 
by  any  church,  individual,  or  society,  and  furnishes  information  gratis  on 
any  case  investigated.  Through  this  information  department,  and  by 
supplementing  the  special  relief  societies,  the  Relief  and  Aid  Society  seeks 
to  co-operate  with  other  charitable  societies  and  persons,  but  refrains  from 
a  duphcation  of  their  work.  Temporary  reUef,  promptly  and  intelligently 
given  to  persons  usually  self-supporting,  stands  out  as  characteristic  of  this 
society. 

3.  The  Associated  Jewish  Charities. — The  financial  support  and 
management  of  all  the  principal  Jewish  charities  in  Chicago  are  provided 
by  the  Associated  Jewish  Charities,  founded  in  1900.  This  association 
was  formed,  first,  in  the  hope  that  all  balls,  fairs,  and  other  forms  of  enter- 
tainment, with  their  "annoying  and  demoraUzing  effect,"  would  be  abol- 
ished; second,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  about  greater  harmony  among 
the  various  Jewish  charities  of  the  city  and  the  consolidation  of  the  several 


-wi^nf^i^JP^^wwwtfgw?  1^. 


^imm 


M»H!".I 


CHARITIES 


83 


relief-giving  bodies;  third,  with  the  aim  of  putting  an  end  to  the  regular 
annual  deficits  of  most  of  the  institutions,  to  obtain  enough  money  to  meet 
their  growing  needs,  and  to  provide  endowments  against  coming  years. 
The  report  of  the  Associated  Jewish  Charities  for  the  year  ending  April 
30,  1903,  shows  the  realization  of  the  first  aim  and  gratifjong  progress  in 
reaching  both  the  others. 

Long  before  this  general  financial  association  was  formed,  forty-seven 
years  ago,  the  United  Hebrew  Charities  was  organized.  At  present  this 
comprises  the  Michael  Reese  Hospital,  the  Dispensary  and  Training 
School,  a  ReUef  and  Labor  Department,  and  the  West  Side  Dispensary. 
This  society,  too,  belongs  to  the  Associated  Jewish  Charities.  The  others 
included  under  the  latter  association  are  the  Bureau  of  Personal  Service 
of  the  Ninth  Ward,  the  Chicago  Home  for  Jewish  Orphans,  the  Home  for 
Aged  Jews,  and  the  Home  for  Jewish  Friendless  Working  Girls.  ^  This  group 
of  Jewish  charities  is  an  apt  illustration  of  a  racial  group-consciousness 
and  a  forceful  comment  on  the  value  of  centralization  and  co-operation. 

A  very  brief  statement  of  the  work  of  these  Jewish  charities  must 
suflSce  here,  as  most  of  them  appear  in  their  several  places  in  the  directory 
and  are  also  included  in  the  general  discussions  of  the  several  classes  or 
groups  of  charities  to  be  taken  up  next  below.  During  the  year  ending 
April  30,  1903,  the  ReUef  and  Labor  Department  assisted  2,545  cases, 
comprising  2,479  persons;  85  friendly  visitors  aided  in  the  work;  the  employ- 
ment oflSce  received  602  applications  and  filled  456  places.  The  West 
Side  Dispensary  filled  24,012  prescriptions,  of  which  4,254  were  filled  free; 
4,999  male  and  7,825  female  patients  were  treated,  in  addition  to  7,982 
children;  the  Michael  Reese  Hospital  received  2,000  patients  and  rendered 
44,032  days  of  free  service;  $17,867  was  received  from  pay  patients,  and 
$796  from  prescriptions  in  the  dispensary;  39  nurses  were  in  attendance 
at  the  training  school;  35  men  and  35  women  were  comfortably  provided 
for  in  the  Home  for  Aged  Jews  at  the  close  of  the  year.  At  the  same  date, 
the  Home  for  Jewish  Orphans  contained  163  children,  160  of  whom  were 
attending  the  public  schools;  the  Bureau  of  Personal  Service  made  a  total 
of  4,958  visits  on  accoimt  of  Juvenile  Court  work,  miscellaneous  court 
work,  legal  aid,  and  loans;  600  pupils,  with  an  average  daily  attendance  of 
570,  were  enrolled  in  the  Jewish  Training  School;'  the  Home  for  Jewish 
Friendless  Working  Girls  was  caring  for  80  children  and  10  yoimg  women, 
besides  having  given  shelter  to  many  others  within  the  year. 

After  having  spoken  of    these   three   greater   divisions   of  the  city 

«  See  Appendix,  Table  III,  "Charities." 

'  Year  ending  September  i,  1903.    Other  reports  are  for  the  year  ending  April  30,  1903. 


'f 


.-'*«»  _j"r."^  TIS'Vin 


84  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

charity — the  Chicago  Bureau  of  Charity,  the  Chicago  ReUef  and  Aid  Society, 
and  the  Associated  Jewish  Charities — I  shall  discuss  the  remaining  charitable 
societies  and  institutions  by  groups,  following  the  grouping  and  order 
adopted  in  the  directory  published  in  the  Appendix. 

4.  Special  relief  societies. — There  are  in  the  city  about  16  special  relief 
societies,  of  which  8  are  for  some  particular  race  or  nationaUty,  and  7  for 
special  classes  of  individuals,  such  as  G.  A.  R.  families  and  the  sick. 

5.  The  medical  charities  are  represented  by  about  44  general  hospitals, 
having  a  capacity  of  about  40,000  beds,  doing  about  28  per  cent,  of  their 
work  free ;  of  the  24  reporting  as  to  their  means  of  support,  1 2  were  supported 
wholly  or  partly  by  churches  or  religious  societies,  5  partly  from  endow- 
ments, and  almost  all  partly  from  contributions  and  donations.  The 
greater  part  of  the  support  comes  from  fees  from  patients.  There  are  16 
special  hospitals,  consisting  of  i  for  children,  2  for  consumptives,  2  for  con- 
valescents, I  for  eye  and  ear  diseases,  4  for  infectious  diseases,  2  for  lying- 
in  patients,  2  for  inebriates,  i  for  incurables,  and  i  for  the  insane.  There  are 
15  important  free  dispensaries,  and  2  visiting  nurse  associations. 

6.  The  care  of  the  aged  is  intrusted  to  17  old  people's  homes,  having  a 
capacity  of  about  2,000.  Nine  of  these  are  aided  by  churches  or  religious 
societies,  while  almost  all  of  them  require  an  entrance  fee  ranging  from  $100 
to  $500. 

7.  The  care  of  children  is  represented  by  7  societies,  3  of  which  are 
home-finding  associations,  i  for  the  care  of  crippled  children,  i  for  the  fresh- 
air  care  of  children,  i  for  the  prevention  of  cruelty,  and  i  for  providing 
increased  hospital  care  of  children.  In  addition  to  these  societies,  there 
are  26  homes  for  children,  accommodating  about  3,100;'  one  club  of  1,200 
boys;  the  Allendale  Farm,  furnishing  a  home  for  40  boys;  the  Manual 
Training  School  Farm  for  Boys,  with  40  residents;  and  the  St.  Mary's 
Training  School  for  Boys  at  Feehanville,  111.,  with  200  boys.  There  is 
one  foundlings'  home.  Accommodations  are  provided  for  about  1,650 
boys  in  homes,  clubs,  and  schools  that  are  for  boys  alone,  while  about  525 
girls  are  similarly  provided  for.  There  are  also  13  day  nurseries  in  the 
city,  where  about  350  children  are  cared  for  daily. 

8.  Rescue  homes  and  shelters. — There  are  2  shelters  for  homeless  men, 
2  for  destitute  or  friendless  working-women  out  of  employment,  and  4 
homes  for  erring  women. 

9.  The  care  of  defectives  is  provided  for  by  the  Ephpheta  School  for 
the  Deaf,  the  McCowan  Oral  School  for  the  Deaf,  the  Home  for  Destitute 
Crippled  Children,  and  the  lUinois  Industrial  Home  for  the  Blind.*    The 

■  Estimated  from  a  capacity  of  2,032  reported  by  17  of  the  homes. 
'  For  public-school  accommodation  for  defective  children  see  p.  24. 


•■J'- 


,  1  •■ 


CHARITIES  9S 

delinquents  are  cared  for  in  the  John  Worthy  School,  the  Parental  School, 
and  the  Detention  home.* 

ID.  Legal-aid  societies. — The  Bureau  of  Justice  and  the  Protective 
Agency  for  Women  and  Children  are  the  only  legal-aid  societies  among 
the  Chicago  charities. 

II.  Inadequate  provision  for  certain  classes. — It  is  impossible  for  prac- 
tical reasons  for  the  writer  to  compare  the  endowment  of  charities  of  this 
city  with  that  of  other  great  cities,  and  it  is  scarcely  less  difficult  to  estimate 
its  adequacy  for  the  needs  of  the  city.  But  certain  observations  may  not 
exceed  what  is  warranted  by  this  study. 

With  the  increased  industrial  employment  of  all  the  members  of  many 
families,  with  the  increasing  tendency  to  regard  persons  in  terms  of  earn- 
ing power,  and  with  the  increasing  homelessness  of  the  city's  population, 
there  seems  to  be  a  growing  demand  for  institutional  care  for  the  aged  and 
infirm.  All  the  homes  for  the  aged  in  Chicago  are  fully  occupied,  and 
many  cannot  be  admitted  even  though  they  are  able  to  pay  what  is  generally 
considered  sufficient  to  keep  them  for  their  remaining  years.  It  is  felt 
that  the  provision  for  the  aged  is  not  adequate.  It  does  not  show  signs  of 
growth  equal  to  the  increasing  demand.  ' 

The  Children's  Hospital  Society,  incorporated  in  January,  1903,  "to 
promote  the  extension  and  enlargement  of  facilities  for  the  care  of  sick  and 
crippled  children,"  has  made  an  investigation  of  the  hospital  faciUties  for 
these  classes.  I  can  do  no  better  than  abstract  from  its  report.  Twenty- 
seven  hospitals,  4  asylums,  and  2  sanitariums  for  children  were  investigated. 
Of  the  27  hospitals,  18  maintain  children's  wards  and  supply  320  beds. 
The  majority  of  the  wards  connected  with  the  large  general  hospitals  were 
found  to  be  overcrowded,  and  to  have  insufficient  air  space  and  deficient 
ventilation.  This  society  finds  the  provision  for  children  with  contagious 
diseases  exceptionally  poor,  while  there  are  only  3  hospitals  for  the  treatment 
of  contagious  diseases,  whether  of  adults  or  of  children.'  "       ;. 

The  provision  for  the  care  of  negroes  is  interesting.  They  have  a  share 
in  the  pubhc  charitable  institutions  and  in  the  general  charity  and  relief 

'  For  information  of  the  Parental  School  and  the  John  Worthy  School  see  p.  25.  These  are 
supplemented  by  a  number  of  homes  that  receive  delinquents,  and  by  the  various  agencies  that  co-operate 
with  the  Juvenile  Court.  See  especially  pp.  26,  27  and  the  tables  on  "Social  Settlements"  and  "Women's 
Clubs,"  in  the  Appendix. 

*  The  following  estimate  of  the  hospital  beds  for  children  was  compiled  by  Mrs.  Russell  Tyson,  a 
{vominent  member  of  the  Children's  Hospital  Society: 

Population  Beds  for  Children 

Manhattan  (New  York)             ...        1350,000  i>39i 

Chicago         - ifigSfioo  323 

Philadelphia i,303/xx>  700 

Boston           ..-..-               560,000  347 

Baltimore 508,000  300 


B6 


( 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


work  of  the  city.  They  are  admitted  by  the  general  hospitals,  i  with  a  capac- 
ity of  25  beds  being  given  especially  to  them.  There  is  one  home  for  aged 
negroes  and  one  orphanage  for  black  children.  These,  together  with  the 
Institutional  Church  and  Social  Settlement,  with  the  proposed  new  settie- 
ment,  and  an  occasional  membership  in  the  trade  unions,  represent  the  chief 
provisions  for  the  negro  in  the  charitable  and  social  institutions  of  the  city. 

12.  Prevention  instead  0}  cure. — In  the  charitable  care  of  children  there  is 
noticeable  the  same  tendency  toward  industrial  training  that  was  discovered 
in  the  pubUc  schools  and  their  supplementary  agencies.  The  Allendale 
Farm  at  Lake  Villa,  111.,  the  Manual  Training  Farm,  and  the  industrial 
homes  appear  in  this  r61e. 

This  prevention  of  dependency  and  delinquency  through  industrial 
training  is  only  a  part  of  a  more  general  substitution  of  prevention  for  cure. 
The  movements  to  encourage  thrift,  the  work  of  the  friendly  visitor  and  the 
personal-service  worker,  the  work  of  the  probation  oflScers  with  children 
who  are  likely  to  become  dependent  or  delinquent,  the  entire  movement 
to  secure  better  sanitation  and  housing,  and  to  provide  pure  food,  especially 
for  children,  the  system  of  small  pensions  adopted  by  the  Bureau  of  Charities, 
the  charitable  loan  associations — all  these  are  calculated  to  prevent  the 
causes  that  make  charity  necessary.  But  the  substitution  is  a  heroic  task, 
and  the  difficulties  are  far  from  solved.  The  two  greatest  charitable  socie- 
ties in  the  city  have  unwittingly  stated  the  problem  very  forcibly  for  those 
who  champion  the  cause  of  prevention.  The  Bureau  of  Charities  states 
the  problem  in  this  way:  .1 

Among  many  who  come  to  charity  for  help  there  exist  deep-lying  mental  and 
moral  weaknesses  which  often  block  and  nullify  the  most  carefully  designed 
measures  of  assistance.' 

Such  a  statement  challenges  the  homes  and  schools  to  a  more  suQcessful 
training  of  sounder,  healthier  children.  I  t 

The  Relief  and  Aid  Society  states  the  same  problem  from  a  slightly 
different  view-point.     It  says: 

It  is  not  in  the  power  of  any  society  to  remove  or  overcome  poverty.  A 
thousand  things  occur  to  plunge  a  respectable  person  or  family  into  very  straitened 
circumstances,  such  as  protracted  illness,  accident,  fire,  death  of  the  bread- 
winner, contagious  diseases  of  children,  in  which  case  the  parents,  though  able 
and  willing  to  work  and  have  plenty  of  work  to  do,  are  quarantined  and  not 
permitted  to  work  with  other  workmen  or  even  to  leave  the  house.  In  such 
cases  all  earnings  are  cut  off  and  expenses  increased.  If  death  occurs,  there  is 
no  means  to  provide  for  burial.* 

^  Ninth  Annual  Report,  year  ending  May  31,  1903,  p.  6. 
*  Forty-fifth  Annual  Report,  year  ending  October  31,  1903. 


M»m>m 


CHARITIES  87 

Such  a  statement  challenges  students  of  industrial  insurance  and  sodal 
ameliorists  to  more  efifective  provision  against  what  should  no  longer  be 
considered  accidentals  in  the  life  of  the  great  industrial  class. 

13.  Religious,  racial,  and  national  feelings  in  charity. — An  interesting 
observation  upon  the  sources  of  support;  for  the  various  charitable  institu- 
tions of  the  city  is  to  note  the  large  r61e  played  by  religious,  race,  or  national 
feelings.  It  is  well  known  that  one  of  the  largest  and  most  effective  groups 
of  charities  in  the  city  is  supported  by  and  for  the  Jewish  people,  while  it 
is  no  less  patent  that  the  Roman  CathoUc  chiurch  is  unexcelled  in  charities. 
One  needs  but  to  glance  over  the  names  of  the  institutions  to  discover  that 
many  of  them  are  the  children  of  a  Protestant  church  or  society,  or  of  some 
national  group.  The  facts  are  an  apt  illustration  of  the  proposition 
made  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  that  charity  springs  from  sympathy, 
in  many  cases  from  religious  fellow-feeUng,  or  from  racial  or  national  senti- 
ment. It  may  be  that  here  is  an  illustration  of  "belated"  charity,  where 
there  is  a  predominance  of  the  emotional  and  an  undervaluation  of  the 
intellectual  factors  that  make  charity  most  highly  moralized. 

14.  Co-operation. — An  observation  on  co-operation  among  the  charitable 
interests  of  the  city,  as  sketched  in  the  foregoing  section,  must  bring  this 
discussion  to  a  dose.  There  has  recently  been  formed  a  Sodal  Service 
Club  in  Chicago,  whose  membership  is  composed  of  professional  charitable 
and  correctional  workers,  and  such  other  persons  as  are  deeply  interested 
in  philanthropy.  This,  together  with  the  new  Social  Sdence  Center,  a 
University  of  Chicago  extension  enterprise  for  practical  training  in  philan- 
thropy and  social  work,  and  the  Federation  of  Settlements  spoken  of  in 
another  place,  forms  an  excellent  plan  for  sympathetic  and  intelligent  co- 
operation among  the  charitable  workers  of  the  city.  The  effectiveness  of 
these  agencies  is  yet  to  be  demonstrated,  as  they  are  still  young. 

But  they  provide  only  a  part  of  the  co-operation  and  centralization  desir- 
able for  using  to  their  highest  power  the  benevolent  impulses  of  the  com- 
munity. These  societies  provide  for  co-operation  by  and  among  the  pro- 
fessional workers.  There  should  be  equally  good  provision  for  co-operation 
between  the  worker  and  the  giver,  between  the  charitable  societies  and  the 
public.  Toward  securing  this,  two  of  the  charitable  sodeties  carry  on 
departments  of  inquiry  through  which  reliable  information  concerning  the 
charities  of  the  city  is  fxmiished  gratis  to  all  benevolent  citizens  and  societies. 
These  departments  are  invaluable  in  promoting  inteUigent  giving  and  effec- 
tive relief.  It  is  possible  that  the  combination  of  all  such  departments 
would  produce  better  results  and  furnish  a  much-needed  reUable  directory 
of  the  charities  of  Chicago.    Toward  this  end,  societies  now  soliciting 


88 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


■H 


funds  from  the  public  should  recognize  their  obligation  to  publish  an 
account  of  the  money  intrusted  to  their  care.  If  the  municipal  and  state 
institutions  are  required  to  pubUsh  such  accotmts,  there  seems  Uttle  reason 
why  others  should  not  also  account  for  their  stewardship.  Public  charities 
are  only  private  charities  so  universally  recognized  that  the  community  is 
willing  to  tax  its  members  for  their  support,  while  private  charities  claim 
revenues  from  only  a  smaller  portion  of  this  same  pubHc. 

As  the  Associated  Jewish  Charities  have  aboUshed  the  expensive  pro- 
fessional promoter,  balls,  and  entertainments  as  means  of  supporting  their 
charities,  may  it  not  be  possible  for  the  community  to  provide  such  a  central 
financial  management  for  its  charities  as  will  make  more  ample  provision 
with  less  waste  and  more  efficiency?  This  may  mean  nothing  more  or 
less  than  state  or  municipal  endowment  of  charities;  but  subjects  of  charity 
may  not  inaptly  be  called  society's  wards. 


,S 


CHAPTER  IX. 
CONCLUSION  TO  PART  II. 

In  the  foregoing  division  on  the  social  and  moral  interests  of  the  city  I 
have  discussed  the  civic  clubs,  the  women's  clubs,  the  social  settlements, 
the  trade  unions,  and  the  charitable  societies  and  institutions.  In  con- 
nection with  each  of  these  topics  I  have  spoken  of  their  co-operation  within 
the  several  groups,  and  occasionally  of  the  co-operation  among  the  groups. 
Before  leaving  this  section,  I  desire  to  review  inter-group  relations,  and 
speak  of  their  adequacy  as  a  group,  or  groups,  in  representing  the  social 
and  moral  forces  in  the  higher  Ufe  of  Chicago. 

I  am  not  arguing  for  the  obliteration  of  the  lines  between  the  several 
classes  of  agencies  spoken  of  above.  Division  of  labor  is  more  and  more 
demanded  for  expert  knowledge  and  efl&cient  execution.  But  a  knowledge 
of  the  community  of  interests  should  be  valuable  to  all  workers  within  these 
several  fields  in  giving  them  the  best  social  perspective  and  community- 
consciousness.  Division  of  labor  for  the  purpose  of  method,  the  over- 
emphasis of  some  and  the  underemphasis  of  other  interests  often  lead  to  a 
false  conception  of  the  essential  unity  of  society.  The  inseparableness  of 
these  several  groups  is  evidenced  by  their  unconscious  as  well  as  their 
conscious  overlapping.  It  is  to  point  out  this  commonality  of  interest, 
rather  than  to  suggest  other  forms  of  co-operation,  that  I  call  attention  to 
the  following  facts. 

In  matters  of  local  improvement  and  public  health,  the  civic  clubs, 
including  the  improvement  clubs,  the  women's  clubs,  the  settlements,  and 
the  charitable  societies,  have  co-operated  in  such  movements  as  those  to 
secure  public  baths,  small  parks,  and  playgrounds;  in  investigations  of 
unsanitary  districts;  in  demanding  the  enforcement  of  the  laws;  and  in  the 
establishment  of  pure-milk  depdts. 

In  matters  of  a  purer  ballot  and  city  administration,  the  civic  clubs, 
the  settlements,  and  to  some  extent  the  charitable  societies  and  trade  unions, 
have  co-operated  in  such  movements  as  protecting  the  public  franchises, 
exposing  graft,  and  investigating  city  departments  and  certain  public 
institutions. 

In  matters  of  schools  and  school  extension,  the  civic  clubs,  the  women's 
clubs,  the  settlements,  and  the  charitable  societies  have  co-operated  in  such 
movements  as  putting  manual  and  household  training  in  the  public  schools; 


r  jiwf'mmjm'--   ij-mijh, 


■I-  ■•' 


t ,. 
'■'A 


f 


90  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

in  supplementing  the  day  schools  by  evening  classes,  educational  lectures, 
and  social  evenings;  in  working  for  increased  use  of  the  public-school 
buildings  as  neighborhood  social  centers;  and  in  supporting  probation 
officers,  or  assisting  the  Juvenile  Court  in  every  way  possible. 

In  matters  of  labor,  the  trade  unions,  the  settlements,  the  women's 
clubs,  and  the  charitable  societies  have  co-operated  in  such  movements  as 
mediation,  labor  legislation,  the  sympathetic  study  of  the  workingman's 
interests,  and  the  encouraging  of  the  cause  of  labor  through  public  meetings, 
addresses,  and  publications. 

In  matters  of  charity,  the  charitable  societies,  the  women's  clubs,  the 
settlements,  and  the  trade  unions  have  co-operated  in  such  movements  as 
the  support  of  hospitals,  homes,  and  outings,  the  work  of  the  friendly  visitor, 
and  protection  against  dependence. 

It  is  not  at  present  possible  for  the  writer  to  compare  the  social  and 
moral  endowment  of  Chicago  with  that  of  other  great  cities  in  order  to 
estimate  its  adequacy,  but  there  are  certain  things  that  have  already  been 
suggested  which  indicate  the  pressure  of  the  demand  upon  the  supply. 
When  it  is  recalled  that  in  the  river  wards,  where  the  population  is  thickest, 
children  most  numerous,  and  mortality  highest,  there  are  only  one  municipal 
playground,  and  three  others  supported  by  private  philanthropy,  there  is 
evident  a  great  need  of  educating  the  public  on  the  moral  value  of  play. 
When  every  request  made  to  the  street-cleaning  department  for  clean  streets 
and  alleys  is  met  by  the  statement  that  there  is  not  money  enough  to  do 
more,  there  is  reason  for  advocating  an  increased  taxing  power  for  the  city. 
Through  the  work  of  the  civic  clubs  and  their  co-operative  agencies,  the 
city  council  is  composed  of  a  very  high-grade  membership,  civil  service  has 
been  thoroughly  estabhshed,  graft  has  been  almost  eliminated,  and  gambling 
has  been  greatly  checked.  Such  good  work  well  done  leaves  the  task  of 
voluntary  civic  societies  comparatively  small,  apart  from  a  jealous  watchful- 
ness over  their  already  great  gains.  These  societies  are  at  present  uniting 
in  a  campaign  for  securing  a  new  charter  for  the  city. 

When  it  is  recalled  that  only  23  of  the  327  public-school  buildings  have 
ever  been  opened  for  evening  classes  or  lectures,  and  when  much  of  the  cost 
of  these  must  be  borne  by  private  funds,  there  is  need  of  great  work  to  secure 
the  benefits  of  the  opening  of  the  pubUc-school  buildings  after  the  usual 
school  hours.  When  the  waiting  lists  are  as  large  as  the  enrolment  in  the 
voluntarily  supported  classes  in  domestic  science,  there  is  room  for  great 
expansion  in  this  work.  When  more  than  twice  as  many  children  apply 
for  admission  to  the  vacation  schools  as  can  be  admitted,  it  is  time  to 
a-sk  whv  only  eight  such  centers  can  be  opened,  and  only  $3,000  appropriated 


^PW'B^Wfl^WPWiPWjpBIBBWP'--  «p^u..L|^l 


CONCLUSION  TO  PART  H  9* 

for  a  work  so  promising  and  so  greatly  demanded.  There  can  be  only  a 
very  small  proportion  of  the  defective  children  cared  for  in  the  schools. 
When  it  is  recalled  that  there  is  no  provision  made  by  law  for  the  payment 
of  the  probation  oflScers,  and  that  half  of  them  are  supported  by  private 
funds,  it  may  well  be  asked:  Where  are  others  who  will  come  to  the  rescue, 
and  why  should  not  the  work  of  these  oflScers  which  has  proved  its  value  be 
paid  for  by  the  public  funds  ? 

When  the  limited  capacity  of  the  special  hospitals  and  of  the  homes  for 
the  aged  is  recalled,  the  opportimity  for  such  benevolence  is  all  too  evident. 
When  the  present  equipment  for  obtaining  and  giving  reliable  information 
concerning  the  charities  of  the  dty  has  proved  so  valuable,  why  should  not 
the  department  receive  a  large  endowment?  When  it  is  recalled  that 
Chicago  is  a  storm-center  in  the  industrial  world,  where  great  public  incon- 
venience, and  often  terrible  violence,  attends  the  many  conflicts  between 
the  laborer  and  his  employer,  who  shall  say  the  past  efforts  or  the  present 
endeavors  have  not  left  much  to  be  done  ?  The  great  opportimity  and  the 
past  successful  work  of  these  moral  and  social  agencies  call  them  to  greater 
tasks,  and  shoxild  enlist  new  and  increased  nimibers  under  their  experienced 
leadership. 


J.,1  ■Ji.wi;w>«ii«ii"^ 


liyiJi  II .  jip  »L  Hii  J  i,ii  iiui.w 


.  « 


PART  III 
THE  iESTHETIC  AND  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS  OF  CHICAGO 


'.  'V  T  ifwi.'  ■!■<     ij^fifiifgn^mf  'iK,'.X  «t  I  •  IHfl 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  .ESTHETIC  INTERESTS. 

For  purposes  of  study  one  may  write  of  the  commercial  Chicago,  of  the 
educational  Chicago,  of  the  moral  and  philanthropic  Chicago,  and  of  the 
aesthetic  Chicago.  But  they  are  all  one  Chicago.  We  do  not  care  to  make 
comparisons.    Each  in  its  own  true  way  contributes  to  the  whole.    But  '       . 

commercial  Chicago  founded  the  Art  Institute  and  forms  the  patronage  of 
the  art  stores.  Intellectual  Chicago  is  putting  art  in  the  public  schools. 
Philanthropic  and  moral  Chicago  encourages  local  talent,  and  the  importa- 
tion of  masterpieces  and  master  reproductions  in  art.  It  all  makes  up 
Chicago. 

True,  the  artistic  Chicago  has  only  recently  reached  any  great  develop- 
ment. Chicago  is  young.  As  there  are  certain  artists  who  are  mission- 
aries, so  there  are  certain  art  efforts  that  are  of  a  missionary  character.  .' 
All  the  art  stores  in  the  city  will  testify  that  their  work  has  been  thus  far 
of  that  missionary  character,  and  that  they  have  never  persuaded  them- 
selves that  their  work  wovdd  by  this  time  have  become  other  than  the  intro- 
duction of  art.  One  dealer  in  art  informs  me  that  he  estimates  one  buyer 
to  every  thousand  visitors.  It  is  claimed  that  the  celebrated  exhibits  at  the 
Columbian  Exposition  marked  the  dawning  of  the  artistic  in  Chicago. 

If  these  years  have  been  seasons  of  missionary  art,  there  is  evidence  in 
the  minds  of  these  forerunners  that  their  mission  is  succeeding.  The  dis- 
play windows  of  the  art  stores  are  almost  constantly  surrounded  by  those 
who  have  paused  to  enjoy  their  beauty.  One  dealer,  after  fifty  years  of 
experience,  says  that  painting  exhibitions  are  seldom  a  financial  success, 
but  are  looked  upon  as  educating  mediums.  Teachers  are  invited  to  visit 
his  rooms  frequently  and  urged  to  bring  their  pupils.  It  is  not  uncommon 
for  one  hundred  of  the  latter  to  visit  his  gallery  on  a  Saturday.    All  these  ' 

carry  away  a  beautiful  image,  a  better  impulse,  a  happier  mind.  The 
quiet  art-rooms  hid  away  from  the  sidewalk  are  almost  always  attended 
by  some  searcher  after  the  beautiful.  Thus  the  non-purchasing  public 
drinks  of  these  refreshing  streams  by  the  way. 

But  a  more  direct  evidence  of  the  development  of  the  artistic  sense  in 
the  city  is  found  in  the  amount  and  classes  of  sales  reported  by  the  several 
art  stores.  In  my  study  I  visited  them  all  and  found  the  proprietors  most 
kind  in  their  assistance.     One  of  them  assured  me  that  fifteen  years  ago  he 

■         ••  ■.       95 


"t"^ 


96 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


'.  t 


could  not  give  away  a  Dutch  picture,  but  now  those  examples  of  suggestive 
wholesomeness,  purity,  and  strength  were  finding  a  reasonable  patronage; 
that  formerly  pictures  that  were  elaborate  in  detail,  pretty,  exquisite,  sold 
for  four  times  the  price  now  paid  for  them,  because  they  were  then  in  such 
great  demand,  while  pictures  of  depth,  breadth,  and  suggestion  are  sold  in 
larger  quantities;  and  that  such  pictures  then  brought  about  $400  or  $500, 
but  are  now  sold  for  as  high  as  $15,000  or  $20,000.  This  same  observing 
proprietor  said  that  eight  years  ago  the  pubUc  schools  bought  only  the 
cheapest  prints,  photographs,  or  lithographs,  consisting  mostly  of  subjects 
in  architecture  and  ruins.  The  highest  prices  then  paid  were  from  50  cents 
to  $1.  These  pictures  have  now  been  taken  down,  he  assured  me,  and  in 
their  places  are  now  being  put  a  high  grade  of  pictures,  costing  from  $50 
to  $100  each.  Fewer  are  bought,  but  they  are  of  a  high  grade,  and  are 
beginning  to  be  appreciated  for  their  rarity  and  the  signature  of  the 
artist. 

Another  dealer,  who  makes  a  specialty  of  imported  oil  paintings,  says 
that,  while  they  have  always  handled  a  high  grade  of  paintings,  in  the  last 
five  years  his  sales  show  that  there  is  a  decreasing  demand  for  the  cheaper 
high-grade  picture,  and  an  increasing  demand  for  the  very  best.  He  also 
testifies  to  the  change  in  the  demand  from  the  mechanically  perfect  and 
completely  wrought  out  product  to  the  broad,  deep,  suggestive  painting. 
The  value  of  these  art  galleries  cannot  be  measured,  nor  the  development 
in  artistic  sense  and  appreciation  be  expressed,  save  in  tendencies.  They 
are  among  the  people  and  throw  a  helpful  beauty  around  them  all.  There 
are  some  agencies  consciously  set  aside  for  the  development  of  the  aesthetic. 
We  shall  speak  of  these  several  societies  and  institutions. 

I.  City  Art  Commission. — The  works  of  art  that  become  the  property 
of  the  city  by  purchase,  gift,  or  otherwise  must  receive  the  approval  of  the 
City  Art  Commission  before  they  can  be  erected  or  placed  in  any  street, 
square,  boulevard,  municipal  building,  park,  or  pubhc  ground  belonging 
to  the  city.  The  commission  consists  of  an  artist,  a  sculptor,  and  an 
architect,  the  mayor  and  the  presidents  of  the  several  park  boards  being 
members  ex  officio.  The  commission,  when  so  requested  by  the  mayor  or 
council,  shall  act  in  a  similar  capacity  with  reference  to  designs  of  buildings, 
bridges,  approaches,  gates,  lamps,  or  other  structures  to  be  erected  upon 
land  belonging  to  the  city,  or  in  the  parks  or  boulevards.  There  exists  also 
a  voluntary  Architectural  Club,  composed  of  architects  in  the  city,  whose 
purpose  is  to  outline  for  the  city,  and  to  work  for  its  adoption,  an  architec- 
tural plan  that  will  secure  to  the  Chicago  of  the  future  a  harmony  and 
symmetry  of  architectural  design. 


j!!WiiW«!W|» 


THE  iESTHETIC  INTERESTS  97 

2.  The  Chicago  Public  School  Art  Society.^ — To  encourage  a  larger 
aesthetic  development  along  with  the  intellectual  growth  of  the  city,  the 
Chicago  PubUc  School  Art  Society  was  organized  in  1894. 

The  particular  business  and  objects  for  which  it  is  formed  are  the  obtaining 
and  placing  of  works  of  art  in  and  about  the  public  schools  of  Chicago,  and  the 
education  and  development  in  art  of  the  children  in  the  pubUc  schools. 

The  membership  consists  of  about  200  active  and  24  honorary  members. 
The  art  and  literature  and  educational  departments  of  the  Chicago  Woman's 
Club  and  four  other  women's  clubs  are  members  also.  The  Art  Society 
has  fitted  up  the  John  B.  Drake  School  and  the  Washington  School  as 
models  of  what  a  pubhc-school  building  should  be.  In  the  former  it  has 
placed  18  pictures  and  casts,  and  in  the  latter  78.  Collections  varying  in 
number  from  i  to  26  have  been  put  in  about  43  other  schools.  The  society 
also  has  a  loan  collection  of  35  pictures  that  are  placed  temporarily  in 
different  schools.  Thus  the  Chicago  Public  School  Art  Society  contributes 
directly  to  the  higher  Ufe  of  the  city. 

Perhaps  the  value  of  the  aesthetic  sensibilities  is  not  greater  in  the 
pleasure  they  give  than  in  the  morality  they  promote.  The  nature  of  this 
contribution  has  been  well  expressed  by  the  president  of  the  society: 

The  public  schools  give  to  many  children  who  come  from  ignorant  or  badly 
managed  homes  their  first  idea  of  what  authority  and  a  proper  submission  to 
authority  signify.  They  are  much  more  apt  to  feel  that  these  are  beneficent 
instead  of  irksome  things,  if  the  outward  forms  and  surroundings  are  beautiful 

and  attractive  rather  than  mean  or  unattractive We  have  yet  to  learn 

fully  how  much  the  elements  of  moral  and  spiritual  character  are  developed  by 
spending  years  early  in  life  under  the  influence  of  good  works  of  art,  which  teach 
beauty,  patriotism,  love  of  nature,  mother-love,  and  reverence.  ^Esthetic  educa- 
tion is  one  of  the  great  moral  forces  of  society.' 

3.  The  Municipal  Art  League  of  Chicago  is  the  result  of  a  meeting  held 
at  the  Art  Institute,  April  20, 1899.  The  object  of  the  meeting  was  announ- 
ced by  the  chairman  to  be 

to  learn  if  the  formation  of  a  municipal  art  society  is  desired  in  Chicago,  and  to 
leam  what  steps  might  be  taken  toward  organization. 

Fifteen  were  present,  comprising  painters,  sculptors,  and  one  architect.' 
The  permanent  organization  was  effected  in  February,  1900. 

The  objects  of  the  league  are: 
to  promote  in  every  practical  way  the  beautifying  of  the  streets,  public  buildings, 
and  places  of  Chicago;  to  bring  to  the  attention  of  the  officials  and  people  of  the 

•  Mrs.  Noble  B.  Judab,  president,  2701  Prairie  avenue. 

•  Address  of  the  president,  Seventh  Annual  Report,  for  the  year  ending  March,  190a. 

»  Year  Book,  1903,  Municipal  Art  League.  Franklin  MacVeagh,  president,  1112  Chamber  of 
Commerce  Building. 


■-^'■■■fp  flFf -fT"! Vr«^ 


98  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

city  the  best  methods  for  instituting  artistic  municipal  improvements,  and  to 
stimulate  civic  pride  in  the  care  and  improvement  of  private  property.' 

To  accomplish  these  objects,  the  Municipal  Art  League  is  organized 
into  a  board  of  directors,  consisting  of  three  architects,  three  painters,  three 
sculptors,  and  six  laymen,  and  the  following  committees:  on  finance,  on 
education  and  organization  of  branch  societies,  on  lake-front  improvements, 
on  public  works,'  on  smoke  prevention,  on  bill-boards,  and  on  municipal 
art.  There  are  four  classes  of  members — ^life,  associate,  annual,  and 
honorary.  | 

As  it  is  difficult  to  measure  the  value  of  the  work  done  by  the  league, 
so  is  it  difficult  to  overestimate  its  opportunities  and  the  spirit  of  its  endeavor. 
Its  value  exceeds  that  of  gold,  and  can  be  expressed  only  in  those  highest 
values  of  life — the  creation,  elevation,  and  satisfaction  of  the  artistic,  the 
ennobling  of  the  moral  sensibilities  of  the  people,  the  fostering  of  a  civic 
pride,  and  the  transforming  of  Chicago's  life  to  a  higher  plane — making 
life  in  Chicago  more  beautiful  and  better,  making  us  love  our  city  by 
making  our  city  lovely. 

Annual  reports  tell  imperfectly  what  has  been  accomplished,  but  must 
furnish  the  basis  for  a  brief  statement  of  what  the  Municipal  Art  League 
has  done.  We  shall  present  the  work  of  the  league  through  the  reports  of 
its  several  committees.  The  Committee  on  Lake  Front  Improvement 
has  assisted  in  the  preparation  of  bills  providing  for  the  reclamation  of 
nearly  all  of  the  lake  front  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  turning  it  over  to  the 
use  of  the  Lincoln  and  South  Park  Commissioners.  The  conamittee  has 
also  been  instrumental  in  the  successful  representation  of  these  bills  before  the 
general  assembly  of  the  state.  The  plans  for  Grant  Park,  along  the  lake 
front,  and  the  placing  of  the  John  Crerar  Library  and  the  Field  Columbian 
Museum  therein,  have  been  assisted  by  the  committee.  The  Special  Park 
Commission,'  appointed  by  the  mayor  and  city  council,  but  whose  members 
serve  without  compensation,  is  an  outgrowth  of  the  Committee  on  Lake 
Front  Improvement.  •  | 

The  Committee  on  Bill  Boards  has  carried  on  a  successful  campaign 
against  advertising  on  the  exterior  of  the  stations  of  the  elevated  railways. 
It  has  led  the  movement  against  bill-board  advertising.  But  it  has  been 
impossible  to  accomplish  much  in  this  direction,  because  the  city  of  Chicago 
and  all  persons  have  been  enjoined  by  the  courts  of  Cook  county  from 
interfering  in  any  manner  vrith  the  erection  of  these  structures  adjacent 
to  the  public  highways.  While  the  power  of  the  city  in  the  premises  is 
being  determined ,5the  committee  continues  its  campaign  of  education 

■  The  By-Laws.  •^Discontinued.  >  P.  14. 


THE  ESTHETIC  INTERESTS  99 

against  a  method  of  advertising  that  has  placed  more  than  fifty  miles  of 
bill-boards  adjacent  to  the  streets  of  Chicago. 

The  Committee  on  Smoke  Prevention  secured  the  passage  of  an  ordi- 
nance creating  the  offices  of  boiler  and  smoke  inspectors  in  March,  1903, 
which  went  into  effect  May  i  of  the  same  year.  Upon  the  request  of  the 
Civil  Service  Commissioners,  the  committee  has  co-operated  with  the  new 
department  thus  estabUshed,  in  suggesting  methods  of  examining  the 
candidates  for  the  offices  created,  and  in  the  prosecution  of  violators  of 
the  ordinance.  The  committee,  believing  that  the  atmosphere  is  being 
cleared  of  smoke,  has  recommended  to  the  Municipal  Art  League  and  the 
pubUc  the  installation  of  artistic  improvements. 

The  Committee  on  Mvmicipal  Art  has  hitherto  found  it  impossible  to 
consider  seriously  the  interior  decoration  of  pubUc  buildings,  except  in  the 
simplest  way,  on  account  of  the  smoke  in  the  city.  But  a  campaign  of 
education  has  been  carried  on.  The  committee  has  recommended  to  the 
league  that  plans  be  made  for  a  competition  that  will  have  for  its  object 
the  production  of  artistic  gas  and  electric-Ught  posts  that  could  be  adopted 
by  the  city;  of  fountains  or  other  sculptural  decorations  suitable  for  street 
intersections,  and  of  artistic  business  signs;  for  placing  before  the  public 
temporary  creations,  which  it  is  hoped  might  finally  be  made  permanent, 
such  as  a  scheme  of  decoration,  made  at  some  festival  or  celebration;  for 
an  exhibition  of  photographs  and  other  illustrations  of  what  has  been 
done  in  municipal  art  in  other  cities.  The  committee  has  also  recom- 
mended that  suggestions  for  the  decoration  of  small  parks  be  invited,  and 
that  the  park  boards  be  asked  to  donate  a  room  or  rooms  to  a  circulating 
art  exhibit,  in  connection  with  the  conservatories. 

The  Exhibition  Committee  is  composed  of  the  delegates  of  the  clubs 
that  are  members  of  the  Municipal  Art  League.  At  present  (1903)  there 
are  fifty-six  members,  representing  thirty-nine  clubs.  The  object  of  the 
committee  is  "to  secvure  the  co-operation  of  clubs  of  Chicago  and  vicinity 
in  the  promotion  of  art  and  of  the  specific  objects  of  the  Municipal  Art 
League."  There  are  also  a  standing  subcommittee  on  art  literature  which 
reports  on  recent  pubUcations  on  art  which  may  be  considered  of  interest 
to  the  clubs  in  class-study  work,  and  special  subcommittees,  such  as  those 
on  private  galleries  and  on  an  artists'  directory. 

Through  the  Exhibition  Committee  the  league  co-operates  with  the  Art 
Institute  of  Chicago  in  managing  the  annual  exhibition  of  works  of  artists 
of  Chicago  and  vicinity.  The  exhibition  continues  four  weeks  and  is 
designed  to  encourage  local  artists.  Dining  the  exhibition  of  1903  the 
galleries  of  the  Art  Institute  were  opened  eighteen  different  days  for  recep- 


.  J. 


lOO  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

tions,  sixteen  of  which  days  were  reserved  by  the  clubs  that  are  members 
of  the  Municipal  Art  League.  These  receptions  were  attended  by  2,523 
persons.  Pictures  costing  $1,509  were  sold.  Three  clubs  belonging  to 
the  Exhibition  Committee  purchased  pictures  at  a  cost  of  $500.  Three 
prizes  were  awarded  for  the  best  pictures  by  local  artists.  These  amounted 
to  $671  and  were  given  by  the  Arts  Club  of  Chicago,  the  Young  Fortnightly, 
and  the  Exhibition  Committee  of  the  Municipal  Art  League. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  committee,  March  15,  1902,  it  was  resolved  that  the 
clubs  be  asked  to  subscribe  annually  to  a  general  fund  of  $600  for  the  pur- 
chase of  the  best  work  of  art  shown  at  the  annual  exhibition.  In  response 
to  this  request,  the  sum  of  $471  was  raised,  and  the  prize  picture  by  J.  C. 
Johnsen,  "October,  Sear  and  Gold,"  was  purchased  at  the  exhibition  of 
1903.  This  painting  is  the  nucleus  of  what  is  expected  ultimately  to  form 
the  Municipal  Art  Gallery  of  Chicago — a  collection  which,  it  is  planned, 
will  exemplify  the  progress  of  the  artists  of  the  city  and  vicinity. 
f.  4.    The  Art  Institute. — The  co-operation  of  the  Municipal  Art  League 

with  the  Art  Institute  has  several  times  been  mentioned  above.  The  Art 
Institute  is  Chicago's  greatest  endowment  for  aesthetic  culture.  It  was 
incorporated  May  24,  1879,  for  the  "founding  and  maintenance  of  schools 
of  art  and  design,  the  formation  and  exhibition  of  collections  of  objects  of 
art,  and  the  cultivation  and  extension  of  the  arts  of  design  by  any  appropriate 
means."  Its  history  goes  back  through  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Fine  Arts 
and  the  Chicago  Academy  of  Design,  to  a  school  of  art  practice  organized 
in  1866.  I 

For  three  years  the  Art  Institute  occupied  rented  rooms  at  the  comer 
of  State  and  Monroe  streets;  thence  it  was  moved  in  1882  to  the  comer  of 
Van  Buren  street  and  Michigan  avenue,  where  property  had  been  bought. 
The  museum  building  upon  the  lake  front  was  first  occupied  in  1893  and 
has  cost  about  $800,000;  the  land,  400  feet,  has  an  estimated  value  of 
$1,600,000;  while  the  collection  of  paintings,  sculptures,  antiquities,  and 
other  objects  of  art  belonging  to  the  Art  Institute  have  an  estimated  value 
of  $850,000 

The  Art  Institute  consists  of  two  great  parts,  viz.,  an  art  museum  and 
an  art  school.  We  shall  speak  first  of  the  art  museum.  The  receipts  from 
membership  fees  and  paid  admissions  and  profits  in  catalogues  amount  to 
about  $40,006,  while  the  operating  expenses  of  the  museum  are  about 
$45,000  annually.  The  first  great  gift  to  the  museum  was  that  of  the  Henry 
Field  collection,  comprising  41  pictures,  representing  chiefly  the  Barbizon 
school  of  French  painters.  This  gift  was  followed  in  1897  by  that  of  the 
Fullerton  Memorial  Hall — a  model  lecture-room  seating  500  persons,  in 


-  t . 


THE  iESTHETIC  INTERESTS  lOI 

which  about  150  entertainments  are  held  annually.  In  1890  the  Art  Insti- 
tute secured  13  works,  chiefly  of  the  Dutch  school,  from  the  sale  of  the 
famous  Demidoff  collection  of  works  by  old  masters.  A  fine  collection 
of  about  60  paintings  was  given  the  institute  in  1898  by  Mr.  Albert  A. 
Mimger,  which  was  followed  by  the  Nickerson  collection.  The  Ryerson 
Library  is  among  the  most  important  gifts  to  the  institute.  I  shall  speak 
more  in  detail  of  the  library  in  another  place.  The  completion  of  Sculpture 
Hall  in  1902,  and  the  installation  of  the  sculptural  casts,  were  important 
steps  in  the  recent  growth  of  the  museum.  Numerous  cash  donations,  as 
well  as  gifts  of  paintings,  sculpture,  and  books,  have  been  received  from 
time  to  time. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  exhibition  of  the  Art  Institute  collection, 
there  are  numerous  special  exhibitions  held,  each  opening  with  a  day  or 
evening  reception.  During  the  year  ending  June  i,  1903,  there  were  212 
audiences  in  Fullerton  Memorial  Hall,  having  an  aggregate  attendance  of 
about  48,000.  The  galleries  were  open  every  day — 202  pay  days,  and  163 
free  days.  The  total  attendance  of  visitors  was  713,  577,  of  whom  683,408 
were  admitted  free.  ' 

The  Art  Institute  has  recently  received  a  collection  of  about  300  stereop-  —   | 

ticon  slides  of  paintings,  sculpture,  and  other  objects  of  art  through  the 
gift  of  Mrs.  A.  N.  Kendall,  of  La  Moile,  111.    In  addition  to  these,  the  - 

institute  owns  about  1,800  slides.     The  object  of  this  collection  is  educa-  { 

tional,  and  slides  will  be  rented  to  public  schools  at  nominal  rates.  .  ' 

The  second  great  division  of  the  Art  Institute  is  the  art  school.     The  ^ 

school  was  organized  in  1878,  and  at  the  close  of  the  school  year  in  1903 
had  reached  a  catalogue  enrolment  of  2,580,  the  greatest  number  enrolled 
atany  one  time  being  1,641.  The  curriculum  includes  full  courses  in  draw- 
ing, painting,  sculpture,  newspaper  illustrating,  decorative  designing,  and 
architecture.     There  have  recently  been  added  also  a  normal  department  / 

for  preparing  teachers  and  supervisors  of  drawing  in  the  public  schools, 
and  a  class  in  the  application  of  original  designs  in  china-painting.  Over 
sixty  instructors  and  teachers  are  regularly  employed.  The  operating 
expenses  of  the  school  are  about  $45,000  annually,  fully  covered  by  the 
tuition  fees. 

A  library  of  about  3,000  volumes  is  now  well  housed  in  a  library  build- 
ing provided  through  the  liberality  of  Mr,  Martin  A.  Ryerson.  It  is  both 
a  circulating  and  a  reference  library.  Thirty  thousand  students  and  visi- 
tors consulted  it,  and  2,040  volumes  were  loaned  to  students  during  the 
school  year  ending  June  i,  1903.  The  library  contains  also  an  extensive 
collection  of  large  carbon  photographs,  or  autotypes,  presented  by  Dr.  D. 


*lf  7   "••!i'*'^^j»<   |if  iflw"*  w  iFyi^ 


lllJUU^IIin<,BP.ipi^JLJ(ll. 


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I02 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


K.  Pearsons.  The  collection  contains  more  than  16,000  subjects,  includ- 
ing authentic  reproductions  of  the  great  masterpieces,  ancient  and  modem  j 
contained  in  the  museums  of  Europe.  Four  hundred  persons  made  use  of 
this  collection  during  the  year,  and  305  photographs  were  loaned  for  short 
periods  of  time  to  art  clubs  and  lecturers.' 

A  foundation  for  an  important  course  of  lectures  upon  the  history, 
theory,  and  practice  of  the  fine  arts  was  provided  by  the  bequest  of  Mrs. 
Maria  Sheldon  Scammon,  At  the  discretion  of  the  trustees,  part  of  the 
fund  may  be  spent  for  the  publication  of  the  lectures,  both  the  lectures  and 
their  pubUcation  being  primarily  for  the  benefit  of  the  students  of  the 
Art  Institute.  The  first  course  of  the  Scammon  lectures  was  delivered  in 
1903.  I 

A  Chicago  School  of  Architecture  has  been  established  through  the 
co-operation  of  the  Art  Institute  and  the  Armour  Institute  of  Technology. 
The  former  furnishes  instruction  in  the  artistic  and  technical  work  of 
architecture,  and  the  latter  in  the  scientific  and  mathematical  branches. 
The  school  is  associated  with  the  profession  of  architects  through  a  board 
of  visitors,  composed  of  practicing  architects,  who  aid  the  students  with 
counsel  and  criticism.  Other  applied  arts  have  been  claiming  attention, 
and  small  classes  have  from  time  to  time  been  formed  in  china  decoration, 
basketry,  ornamental  pottery,  and  metal-work. 

The  Art  Institute  is  thus  a  combination  of  art  museum  and  art  school. 
The  two  are  so  interwoven  and  so  interdependent  that  they  should  be 
conceived  as  one,  so  far  as  contributing  to  the  higher  life  of  the  city.  The 
Art  Institute  is  especially  comprehensive,  including  a  school  of  academic 
art,  decorative  designing,  architecture,  and,  to  some  degree,  applied  arts; 
maintaining  a  museum  of  permanent  collections  and  a  series  of  passing 
exhibitions;  and  having  a  library  of  art — "much  the  best  connected  with 
any  institution  in  America" — and  courses  of  lectures  upon  the  history, 
theory,  and  practice  of  art. 

This  comprehensiveness  is  evidence  that  the  management  of  the  institute 
has  a  consciousness  of  the  needs  of  the  community  as  a  whole.  The  co- 
operation with  the  Municipal  Art  League  in  popularizing  art  in  Chicago 
shows  an  effective  consciousness  of  the  aesthetic  interest  of  the  city.  The 
700,000  visitors  annually  to  the  institute  would  seem  to  indicate  a  fair 
degree  of  appreciation  by  the  community;  but  the  uses  made  of  the  advan- 
tages offered  by  the  Art  Institute  are  so  limited  that  it  is  doubtful  whether 

'  The  Altnia  Art  Library,  1233  Masonic  Temple,  should  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  art 
interests  of  the  dty.  This  Ubrary  is  free  to  all  young  women  who  work  in  the  down-town  districts  and 
to  members  of  clubs  interested  in  art.  Photographs  are  loaned  to  lecturers  and  pubUc  schools.  It  con- 
tains about  500  volumes  on  art,  and  a  collection  of  about  400  photographs. 


THE  ESTHETIC  INTERESTS  IO3 

the  greater  number  of  clubs,  settlements,  and  schools  have  eflfectively 
appreciated  the  aesthetic  and  moral  value  of  this  splendid  institution.  One 
would  expect  to  find  a  larger  degree  of  co-operation  by  the  Public  School 
Art  Society  and  the  Society  for  School  Extension  in  the  work  done  for  the 
community  by  the  Art  Institute  and  the  Municipal  Art  League.  The 
splendid  example  of  co-operation  among  the  libraries  of  the  city  is  apparent 
in  the  reservation  of  the  field  of  art  to  the  library  of  the  Art  Institute. 

Chicago  has  no  small  endowment  of  musical  culture.  Studios,  con- 
servatories, and  colleges,  whose  artists  are  among  the  best-known  in  America, 
afford  a  training  in  music  that  is  fast  bringing  the  somewhat  tardy  musical 
talent  of  the  city  to  a  more  proportionate  development.  There  are,  in 
addition  to  the  private  studios  and  schools,  many  small  music  clubs,  choruses 
and  orchestras  that  minister  to  the  musical  interest  of  members  and  small 
groups.  Two  great  musical  organizations  have  been  long  identified  with 
the  life  of  the  city.  These  are  the  Apollo  Musical  Club  and  the  Chicago 
Orchestra. 

One  cannot  study  the  musical  development  of  Chicago  without  being 
impressed  with  the  significance  of  two  great  events:  the  Chicago  fire  and 
the  Columbian  Exposition.  Before  that  October  Sunday  of  187 1  Chicago 
had  made  little  progress  in  musical  culture.  The  first  orchestra  was 
organized  in  i860.  Italian  opera  was  not  heard  until  1859,  and  German 
opera  not  until  1865.     In  187 1 

came  the  conflagration,  and  all  the  daughters  of  music  were  brought  low.  It 
destroyed  every  audience-room  in  the  city,  disrupted  every  musical  society,  laid 
every  music  store  in  ashes,  and  drove  nearly  every  teacher  of  music  away  from 
the  city.' 

In  the  revival  music  was  destined  to  present  a  new  phase,  gradually 
changing  from  a  mere  source  of  entertainment  to  an  educational  force. 
And  it  is  in  this  latter  sphere  that  both  the  great  musical  organizations  of 
the  city  have  their  significance  and  have  achieved  their  great  success. 

The  fire  was  a  new  creation  for  Chicago,  and  ideas  that  had  been  grow- 
ing, but  had  no  room  to  thrive,  found  a  clearer  field  when  the  older  Chicago 
had  been  removed.  This  fertile  soil  brought  forth  a  good  harvest.  The 
ideals  grew,  but  found  no  adequate  expression,  until  Chicago  was  called 
upon  to  exhibit,  not  only  the  material,  but  also  the  ideal,  progress  and 
products  of  the  New  World.  Then  were  actualized  the  best  ideals  that 
the  city  knew.  As  the  fire  gave  room  and  a  fertile  soil  for  the  artist's  life 
in  Chicago,  so  the  World's  Columbian  Exposition  gave  the  opportunity 
for  its  expression. 

<  George  F.  Upton,  Harper's  Magazine,  Vol.  XCVI,  p.  473. 


■\ 


% 


. 'J!«"li!    j.'W"     .■•■J!* 


r 


■'- j 


;  i 


104  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


<  5.   The  Apollo  Musical  Club. — The  first  musical  society  bora  after  the 

,  f  fire  was  the  Apollo  Musical  Club,  formed  in  1872.    It  was  organized  as  a 

I"  mannerchor,  but  three  years  later  became  a  mixed  chorus  under  the  leader- 

:  •  ship  of  Mr.  WiUiam  A.  TomUns.     The  club  consists  of  500  voices,  and  its 

work  is,  according  to  good  critics,  especially  noteworthy  for  spiritual  inter- 
;  pretation,  while  the  technical  efficiency  is  scarcely  less  remarkable.     The 

dub  presents  to  the  people  of  Chicago  interpretations  of  the  most  famous 
i  works  of  Handel,  Mendelssohn,  Max  Bruch,  Haydn,  Berlioz,  Rubenstein, 

;'.,  Massenet,  and  Rossini. 

!     .  6.   The  Chicago  Orchestra. — As  the  Apollo  Club  is  first  of  choruses,  so 

]  .  the  Chicago  Orchestra  is  chief  of  orchestras  in  the  city.     Too  much  could  1-      • 

r.  hardly  be  said  of  the  excellence  of  these  two  organizations,  and  their  cultural  f- 

];■■'  value  it  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate.  I  *'• 

The  Chicago  Orchestra  is  under  the  directorship  of  Mr.  Theodore 

Thomas.     The  first  extensive  work  of  Mr.  Thomas  in  Chicago  was  the 

i  series  of  summer-night  concerts  given  in  the  old  Exposition  Building  during 

i;  the  seasons  from  1877  to  1890.    Mr.  Thomas  studied  the  appreciation  of 

his  audiences,  and  while  he  never  compromised  his  own  high  standard  of 

choice,  he  presented  a  "request"  program  each  week  in  which  he  traced  the 

;  education  of  his  audiences  in  intellect  and  feelings.     The  success  of  these 

r  .  concerts  caused  him  to  leave  his  work  in  New  York  and  make  Chicago  the 

;'  field  of  his  musical  efforts.     The  year  1890  witnessed  the  organization  of  the 

Chicago  Orchestra,  made  possible  by  a  group  of  fifty  business  men  who 
secured  it  against  loss  by  their  personal  subscriptions.     For  thirteen  suc- 
j  cessive  seasons  the  orchestra  has  given  twenty  or  more  programs,  each 

I  being  given  twice  a  week. 

j  The  Chicago  Orchestra  must  not  be  classed  as  a  means  of  entertainment, 

but  as  an  educational  institution.     Like  universities  and  libraries,  it  is 
worthy  of  an  endowment.     Each  year  there  has  been  a  large  deficit,  and 
[■  the  men  who  have  been  carrying  this  have  asked  the  pubUc  to  provide  a 

■\  home  for  the  orchestra,  beUeving  that  the  sale  of  tickets  would  then  suffice 

{  for  the  support  of  the  organization.     Experience  has  shown  that  the  audi- 

;  ence  pays  three-fourths  of   the   cost.     This  is  a  tribute  to  the  musical 

j.  enUghtenment  of  the  community,  and  an  evidence  of  the  success  of  the 

orchestra,  for  it  means  that  there  must  be  present  nearly  2,500  paying 
listeners  at  each  of  the  forty  or  more  concerts  given  during  the  year.  Were 
the  orchestra  purely  for  amusement,  there  could  be  no  reason  why  the  pubUc 
should  endow  it  or  furnish  it  with  a  home,  but  the  excellent  and  educational 
nature  of  the  programs  makes  the  institution  worthy  of  a  community  endow- 
ment.    The  management  has  asked  for  $750,000  to  provide  a  lot  and 


THE   .ESTHETIC  INTERESTS  1^5 

building  suitable  to  the  needs  of  the  orchestra.  The  response  has  been 
very  generous  and  quite  democratic,  over  two-thirds  of  the  amount  having 
been  already  subscribed.^ 

In  the  aesthetic  interest  there  has  become  manifest  a  tendency  toward 
appUed  art,  a  drift  toward  art  craft.  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  classes 
that  have  spontaneously  sprung  up  in  the  appUed  arts  in  connection  with 
the  Art  Institute;  it  is  the  occasion  of  the  School  of  Architecture.  The 
question  of  providing  for  this  demand  involves  both  a  departure  from  the 
past,  and  the  furnishing  room,  appUances,  and  instruction  for  these  crafts. 
This  tendency  seems  parallel  to  that  toward  industrial,  mechanical,  and 
commercial  education  in  pubhc  schools,  in  private  schools,  and  in  univer- 
sities. It  is  the  manifestation  of  the  intensely  practical  spirit  of  the  age. 
It  is  a-piece  with  the  pedagogy  that  would  educate  the  brain  and  hand 
together,  and  suggests  the  query  whether  the  eye  as  the  sense  of  the  artistic 
should  not  hkewise  be  made  a  term  in  the  series.  To  combine  the  artistic 
appreciation  with  the  trained  hand  under  the  direction  of  a  cultured  mind 
would  supply  to  the  laborer  that  element  of  the  artistic  so  hurtfully  absent 
in  the  products  of  men's  industry  today.  It  further  suggests  that  not  sup- 
pression of  some  modes  of  self-expression,  not  the  denial  of  some  interests, 
and  not  even  a  balance  of  the  several  faculties  is  to  be  the  end  sought  in 
education. 

'  There  are  many  smaller  musical  societies  in  the  dty,  among  which  should  be  mentioned  the  Gennan 
Mamierchor,  the  Lake  View  Musical  Society,  and  the  Amateur  Musical  Club. 

Before  the  book  left  the  press  the  home  for  the  orchestra  had  been  built  and  formally  dedicated. 


•ij."».."'f'mi"!'*f»";9|gp"»BP  Jf''*.- 


TPff  II. I  li  II  iiijH|ii.mi«ii^tHiu 


CHAPTER  XI. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS. 


In  this  section  I  have  included  those  associations  that  by  their  adopted 
name  and  by  their  object,  as  expressed  in  their  beginning,  are  to  be  considered 
first  of  all  from  the  rehgious  standpoint,  and  also  the  churches,  Simday- 
schools,  and  young  people's  societies,  and  other  auxiliary  church  organiza- 
tions. Such  a  classification  is  not  intended  to  deny  a  religious  r61e  and 
value  to  societies  grouped  under  other  headings,  or  to  deny  other  than 
religious  values  to  those  placed  under  the  title  above.  Indeed,  all  classifica- 
tions used  in  this  paper  are  in  the  interest  of  convenience  of  study  and 
presentation,  while  the  supreme  desire  is  to  show  not  only  the  unity  of  all 
the  agencies  that  make  for  the  higher  life,  but  that  such  unity  is  the  reality 
that  is  experienced.  I 

The  soul  or  spirit  of  man  was  in  more  primitive  forms  of  thought  con- 
ceived as  little  dependent  upon  the  body,  as  requiring  soul-food,  spiritual 
nourishment,  largely  unrelated  to  the  bodily  life.  Such  a  conception  gave 
birth  to  institutions  avowedly  for  the  cultivation  of  the  soul-life.  Their 
character  was  determined  by  the  conception  of  the  nature  and  needs  of  the 
soul  or  spirit.  Their  activities  were  determined  by  these  same  demands 
and  consisted  of  communion,  worship,  praise,  and  exhortation.  In  more 
modem  thought  the  inseparableness  of  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  and  the  parallel 
laws  of  physical  growth  and  spiritual  welfare,  have  become  more  prevalent. 
With  this  change  in  thought  have  come  corresponding  changes  in  the  forms  of 
organization  and  modes  of  administering  to  the  spiritual  life  of  man.  Pro- 
vision is  now  made,  more  and  more,  for  the  all-around  development  of  man. 
His  physical  and  intellectual  welfare  must  be  cared  for  as  surely  as  his 
spiritual  interest.  The  changes  of  home  life  and  conditions  of  employment 
brought  about  by  the  change  in  the  industrial  order,  and  the  increasingly 
rapid  congestion  and  growth  of  the  cities,  has  created  large  demands  for 
recreative,  educational,  and  social  opportunities.  It  is  in  accordance  with 
these  two  tendencies  that  educational  and  social  activities  have  been,  and 
are  increasingly  being,  added  to  the  purely  spiritual  ministrations  of  rehgi- 
ous societies.  The  caution  necessary  at  this  point  is  that  we  should  not 
construe  increasing  emphasis  upon  these  added  phases  of  the  individual's 
life,  as  a  decrease  of  the  value  of  spiritual  hfe.  Man  is  to  be  conceived  as 
ennobled  in  all  his  hfe,  and  all  these  good  things  are  gains. 

io6 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS  I07 

In  presenting  a  conspectus  of  the  religious  elements  of  the  higher  life 
of  Chicago,  I  have  pursued  the  same  general  plan  as  was  followed  in  the 
educational  section,  being  compelled  to  limit  the  section  to  a  statistical  state- 
ment of  the  great  general  facts,  and  then  presenting  a  short  discussion 
of  special  features.  It  has  seemed  wise  also  to  present  in  brief  compass 
a  sketch  of  some  of  the  most  important  religious  organizations,  such  as  the 
Christian  associations. 

1.  The  Illinois  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union^  has  36  local 
xmions  in  Cook  county,  27  of  which  are  within  Chicago  and  have  an 
approximate  membership  of  900.  There  are  also  within  the  city  8  chapters 
of  the  branch  organization,  the  Loyal  Temperance  Legion. 

The  object  of  these  Christian  Temperance  Unions  is 

to  educate  public  sentiment  to  the  standard  of  total  abstinence,  to  train  the 
young,  save  the  inebriate,  seeing  the  legal  prohibition  and  complete  banishment 
of  the  liquor  traffic,  and  to  enter  into  any  Christian  work  to  which  the  Lord  may 
call. 

Pursuant  to  this  object,  the  work  is  organized  into  departments  for  temper- 
ance agitation  and  reform,  law  enforcement,  philanthropy,  and  Christian 
work.  Efforts  in  behalf  of  labor  legislation  and  the  enforcement  of  saloon 
ordinances,  a  campaign  for  the  extension  of  prohibition  territory  within 
Chicago,  assisting  in  temperance  services  in  Simday  schools  and  churches, 
and  contributions  to  the  Frances  E.  Willard  Temperance  Hospital  and 
the  Frances  E.  Willard  Settlement,  are  the  chief  lines  of  local  activity 
engaged  in  by  the  several  local  unions  in  Chicago. 

2.  The  Young  People's  Christian  Temperance  Union'  has  its  head- 
quarters in  Chicago,  and  its  work  has  been  chiefly  confined  to  the  city. 
This  society  was  organized  in  1897  and  has  a  membership  of  700.  The 
object  of  the  imion  is  not  unhke  that  of  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  and  its  methods  are  educative  and  reformative.  The  union  is  at 
present  engaged  in  an  effort  to  unite  all  the  Christian  young  people's  socie- 
ties in  Chicago  in  a  campaign  for  ward  option  in  the  city.  It  is  the  plan  to 
secure  100,000  petitioners  to  the  city  council  to  pass  an  ordinance  providing 
that,  upon  petition  of  one-fourth  of  the  voters  of  any  ward,  the  question  of 
saloon  or  no  saloon  shall  be  submitted  in  that  ward  at  the  next  election. 

3.  The  Young  Woman's  Christian  Association^  of  Chicago  is  organized 
to  promote  the  moral,  reUgious,  intellectual,  and  temporal  welfare  of  women, 
especially  those  who  are  dependent  upon  their  own  exertions  for  support. 
A  part  of  this  work  consists  in  organizing  homes  and  securing  employment 

■  Marie  C.  Brehm,  president,  The  Temple,  Chicago. 

*  The  Temple,  Chicago.  »  Mrs.  Charles  Howe,  president,  288  Michigan  avenue. 


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THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


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for  self-supporting  girls,  and  those  endeavoring  to  become  such.  The 
association  maintains  a  boarding  home  and  an  employment  bureau  at  288 
Michigan  boulevard,  and  a  West  Side  Branch  at  57  S.  Centre  avenue.  The 
membership  consists  of  231  honorary  life  members,  240  active,  and  648 
associate  members.* 

The  home  on  Michigan  avenue  is  not  only  a  place  for  material  comfort, 
kindly  sympathy,  and  friendly  aid,  but  also  a  place  of  religious  work  and 
of  social  intercourse  and  amusement. 

The  religious  work  at  this  home  is  fostered  through  daily  family  prayer, 
weekly  meetings  of  "The  Inner  Circle,"  two  Bible  classes,  and  occasional 
service  on  Sunday  and  at  special  seasons. 

Filling  positions  is  a  small  part  of  the  work  of  the  employment  bureau ; 
friendly  counsel  and  advice,  words  of  sympathy,  small  loans,  car-fare,  are 
often  of  great  value.  During  the  year  ending  November  i,  1903,  800 
applications  were  received  from  employees  and  451  from  employers,  while 
400  places  were  filled. 

The  members  of  the  home  give  several  musical  and  literary  entertain- 
ments during  the  year.  The  annual  reception  and  Christmas  festival  are 
other  social  features.  i 

The  most  successful  work  of  the  educational  department  was  done  in 
the  gymnasium,  for  which  260  young  women  were  enrolled.  There  was 
also  a  class  in  elocution,  one  in  music,  two  in  French,  one  in  Spanish,  two 
in  literature,  and  two  in  domestic  science.  Social  evenings  and  team 
contests  add  to  the  interest  and  benefits  of  the  study  classes.  The  library 
showed  a  total  circulation  of  7,684  books,  while  the  writing-  and  reading- 
rooms  were  in  almost  constant  use.  The  library  department  presented  to 
the  settlements  of  the  city  1,500  papers  and  magazines,  and  a  few  books. 

During  the  year,  3,382  young  women  were  admitted  to  the  home,  2,658 
of  whom  stayed  only  for  short  periods,  57  were  ministered  to  in  special  need, 
while  667  remained  long  enough  to  be  called  permanent  members  of  the 
home. 

The  West  Side  Branch  reported  a  registration  of  345,  while  all  the  lines 
of  activities  were  correspondingly  smaller  than  those  of  the  larger  home, 
owing  to  lack  of  room. 

The  association  supports  three  women  in  the  several  railroad  depots  in 
the  city,  who  assist  girls  and  women  who  are  traveling  and  may  be  in  need 
of  assistance.  These  three  traveler's  aids  gave  help  in  2,098  special  cases, 
giving  protection,  advice,  and  information,  securing  reduced  or  free  trans- 
portation, serving  lunches,  or  securing  positions. 

'  Twenty-seventh  Annual  Report  for  the  year  ending  November,  1903.  j 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS  lOp 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  work  of  the  Young  Woman's  Christian  Association 
in  Chicago,  but  its  complete  value  can  never  be  known.  It  is  stored  in 
thankful,  happy  hearts,  better  and  purer  women.  Christian  character  and 
service,  and  better  homes  and  community.  The  association  finds  its  ener- 
gies consumed  in  its  own  chosen  field,  leaving  it  at  present  imable  to  enlist 
in  the  large  community  interests  so  frequently  pointed  out  above. 

4.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.^ — The  large  and  increasing 
numbers  of  young  men  who  come  to  a  large  city,  so  noticeable  in  the  last 
two  decades,  have  created  a  great  need  for  the  religious  and  social  work  of 
the  Yoimg  Men's  Christian  Association.  The  same  forces  that  have  created 
so  many  other  agencies  supplementary  to  the  pubUc  schools  have  created 
the  educational  work  of  the  association.  The  activities  of  the  association 
are  further  determined  by  the  ideal  of  the  society,  which  may  be  described 
as  complete  manhood,  which  is  impossible  without  a  healthy,  trained  body, 
an  instructed,  cultured  mind,  a  wholesome,  recreative  social  life,  and  an 
active,  saving  allegiance  to  Christ. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  is  organized  through  a  board 
of  trustees  having  control  of  all  the  property  of  the  association,  a  board  of 
managers  having  general  control  of  the  affairs  of  the  association,  and  com- 
mittees of  management  having  general  charge  of  the  several  branch  asso- 
ciations or  departments.  The  boards  of  trustees  and  managers  constitute 
the  general  city  organization,  and  are  intrusted  with  the  problems  of  property 
and  plans  for  the  entire  field.  Their  work  finds  expression  in  the  plans 
and  progress  of  the  several  associations.  These  latter  comprise  five  rail- 
road departments,  five  city  departments,  and  sixteen  student  departments. 
We  shall  speak  briefly  of  the  first  and  second  groups,  more  extensively  of 
the  last  group,  and  then  present  a  general  view  of  the  work  of  the  association 
throughout  the  city.  In  a  work  performed  in  the  spirit  of  that  of  this 
association,  and  dealing  with  such  kinds  of  values,  statistics  are  inadequate 
to  express  the  results.  At  best  they  can  Only  give  a  glimpse  of  the  value  of 
the  work  and  indicate  the  character  and  scope  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  as  a  factor  in  the  higher  life  of  the  city. 

There  are  in  Chicago  five  railroad  departments  in  connection  with  the 
following:  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  Railway,  land  and  building  owned 
by  the  association;  Dearborn  Station,  land  and  building  leased  by  the 
association;  Pennsylvania  lines,  land  and  building  owned;  Grand  Trunk 
Railway,  land  leased,  building  owned ;  and  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois 
Railway,  land  and  building  leased.  These  departments  are  designed  for 
the  employees  of  the  several  railroad  companies,  their  activities  and  fumish- 

'  L.  Wilbur  Messer,  geaeral  secretary,  153  LaSalle  street. 


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THE   HIGHER  LIFE   OF   CHICAGO 


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ings  being  determined  by  the  needs  of  these  men.  In  connection  with  these 
departments  there  are  maintained  9  parlors,  5  assembly-rooms  seating  about 
500  persons,  5  writing-rooms,  3  libraries  containing  about  1,200  volumes 
and  140  periodicals,  5  restaurants,  4  dormitories  containing  160  beds,  19 
baths,  and  5  game  rooms.  At  two  of  these  centers  monthly  receptions  or 
entertainments,  lectures,  and  practical  talks,  are  given.  General  religious 
meetings  and  Bible  classes  are  held  weekly  at  all  the  centers.  Classes  and 
educational  clubs  are  regular  features  of  some  of  them. 

There  are  sixteen  departments  in  connection  with  as  many  different 
schools  and  universities  in  the  dty.^  The  work  in  these  centers  consists 
chiefly  of  religious  meetings,  Bible  study,  lectures,  and  practical  talks. 
The  membership  is  limited  to  students  and  members  of  the  faculty  in  the 
respective  schools. 

There  are  five  general  departments:  Central,  West  Side,  Hyde  Park, 
Ravenswood,  and  Roseland.  At  the  last  two  all  the  work,  except  the  reli- 
gious meetings  and  Bible  classes,  has  been  temporarily  suspended  during 
the  canvass  for  a  new  building.  The  work  at  the  West  Side  and  Hyde 
Park  Departments  is  patterned  after  that  of  the  Central  Department,  but 
is  not  so  varied  or  extensive.  The  Central  Department  is  worthy  a  some- 
what extended  presentation,  and  will  serve  as  a  highly  developed  representa- 
tive of  the  several  departments. 

The  work  of  the  Central  Department  is  divided  into  five  sections:  the 
physical,  educational,  social,  religious,  and  employment. 

The  Physical  Section  aims  to  secure  to  each  member  that  "physical 
condition  without  which  the  highest  mental  and  moral  efficiency  is  impossi- 
ble." It  comprises  the  following  features:  gymnasium,  baths  and  nata- 
torium,  bicycle  storage,  handball  court,  athletic  field,  and  summer  camp. 
This  section  offers  class  and  individual  instruction  and  general  practice, 
arranged  for  business  men,  yoimg  men,  boys,  schoolboys,  and  working- 
boys,  in  which  the  recreative  principle  receives  large  recognition,  and  the 
social  nature  is  enlisted  by  competitive  games,  and  by  class  clubs  for  fencing, 
wrestling,  and  track  and  field  events. 

The  Educational  Section  includes  the  following  features:  association 
college,  consisting  of  two  parts  —  the  day  school  for  yovmg  men,  with 
an  enrolment  of  272  students,'  and  comprising  English,  commercial, 
stenographic,  technical  preparatory,  and  college  preparatory  classes, 
private  tutoring,  and  a  summer  school  for  boys;  an  evening  school  for 
employed  men,  with  a  total  enrolment  of  1,208  students  pufsuing  work 

>  A  list  of  these  can  be  found  in  the  Offcial  Bulletin  published  quarterly  by  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 
tian Association  of  Chicago. 

*  All  the  statistics  of  the  Central  Department  are  for  the  year  ending  June  301  igojt    : 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS  III 

in  business  studies,  English,  history  and  civics,  mathematics,  music,  lan- 
guage, science,  drawing,  and  shop  practice;  ten  educational  clubs,  with  a  . 
total  membership  of  157,  combining  the  social  with  the  educational  featiu"e, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  Mandolin  and  Guitar  Club,  the  Book- 
keeping Club,  the  Camera  Club,  the  Chemistry  Club,  the  German  Con- 
versation Club,  the  Glee  Club,  the  Literary  Club,  and  the  Social  Economics 
Club.  There  were  given  nine  educational  lectures,  with  an  average  attend- 
ance of  82,  on  sociological,  civic,  scientific,  historical,  and  Uterary  subjects;  *" 
thirty-eight  practical  talks  on  life-work,  personal  life,  and  current  topics, 
with  an  average  attendance  of  58.  The  Ubrary,  study,  and  reading-rooms, 
furnished  with  i  ,200  volumes  and  182  periodicals,  had  an  estimated  average 
daily  attendance  of  475.  -  ^ 

The  Social  Section  includes  the  following  features;  twenty  entertain-  ,.  i 

ments,  consisting  of  musicals,  lectures,  and  impersonations;  members' 

meetings,  consisting  of  receptions,  banquets,  and  patriotic  celebrations;         .  ^~    ■ 

a  bureau  of  information  on  points  of  interest  in  Chicago,  railroad  rates  and      '  '     ' .  • 

time-tables,  boarding-  and  rooming-house  register;  a  restaurant;  and  ten 
social  clubs. 

The  Religious  Work  Section  maintains  the  following  lines  of  activities:  ,- 

the  religious  meetings,  the  most  prominent  means  of  enlisting  the  members  ' 

in  active  Christian  service,  consisting  of  a  Sunday  schedule  of  four  meetings, 
a  noon  meeting  every  week  day,  special  campaigns,  such  as  Lenten  services, 
workers'  fellowship  groups  meeting  each  week,  and  a  boys'  meeting  every 
Saturday  morning;  Bible  study,  in  which  1,045  ™^i^  ^^^^^  engaged  during 
the  last  year,  consisting  of  Bible  classes  and  lecture  courses,  and  a  normal 
Sunday-school  class;  personal  Christian  effort,  cultivating  personal  spiritual 
power  through  friendship,  seeking  the  opportunity  to  urge  men  to  surrender  . 
to  the  Master,  and  following  up  the  man  professing  conversion  until  he  has 
become  firmly  established  in  the  religious  life;  and  the  support  of  a  foreign 
missionary. 

The  Employment  and  Advisory  Section  received  2,593  applications  by 
men  and  boys,  and  2,865  calls  from  employers,  and  filled  1,174  positions      '. 
during  the  year.    The  section  imdertakes  to  be  an  index  to  every  form  of  .  n 

individual  and  organized  relief  in  Chicago. 

The  Central  Department  is  discovered  to  be  well  calculated  to  secure 
that  entire  development  of  men  in  physical,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  life   .         " 
proposed  above  as  the  ideal  of  the  association. 

A  comprehensive  view  of  the  work  as  a  whole,  through  its  several 
departments,  may  be  indicated  by  abstracts  from  the  supplement  to  the 
Official  Bulletin  issued  by  the  board  of  managers  for  the  year  1903.     The 

t  ' '  ■'.-■..■.._  .  ■    ■ 


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112  THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 

26  departments  had  a  total  senior  membership  of  7,724;  4  departments 
reported  a  junior  membership  of  1,207;  S  departments  had  37  men's  gymna- 
sium classes,  with  an  enrolment  of  2,098;  4  reported  11  classes  for  boys, 
with  an  enrolment  of  875;  4  had  20  track  teams,  with  137  members;  4  had 
II  clubs  for  physical  work,  containing  1,300  members;  2  departments 
reported  12  baths,  with  an  attendance  of  177,230;  2  had  natatoria,  with  an 
attendance  of  97,376;  3  had  handball  courts,  with  an  attendance  of  28,676; 
4  had  bowhng-alleys,  with  an  attendance  of  3,941. 

Eighteen  departments  reported  an  average  daily  attendance  of  3,631; 
17  departments  held  255  receptions,  socials,  and  banquets,  at  which  12,833 
persons  were  present;  8  reported  52  entertainments,  attended  by  19,695 
people;  8  had  175  beds,  with  an  average  daily  use  of  298;  6  served  an  average 
of  885  meals  and  lunches  daily. 

The  day  schools  of  the  Central  Department  gave  48  courses  to  271 
students;  4  departments  offered  58  courses,  with  an  enrolment  of  1,142 
students;  4  reported  15  educational  clubs,  with  170  members;  5  provided 
269  lectures  and  practical  talks  for  a  total  attendance  of  7,908;  6  libraries, 
containing  2,190  volumes,  were  visited  by  161  persons  per  day;  16  reading- 
rooms,  having  on  file  416  periodicals,  had  1,340  visitors  per  day. 

Twenty-one  departments  held  1,045  religious  meetings  for  men,  with  a 
total  attendance  of  63,218;  3  had  73  meetings  for  boys,  at  which  4,340  were 
present;  16  maintained  49  Bible-study  classes,  with  an  enrolment  of  869; 

2  conducted  19  Bible-study  lectures,  at  which  5,616  persons  were  present; 

3  had  4  mission-study  classes,  enrolling  50  members  and  contributing 
$1,579;  2  had  4  groups  of  personal  workers,  with  126  members;  515  men 
professed  conversion,  416  were  referred  to  pastors,  and  40  led  into  church 
membership. 

Eleven  departmental  employment  bureaus  received  3,153  applications 
for  work,  2,679  calls  for  men,  and  filled  1,398  positions;  11  received  313 
applications  for  rehef,  283  of  whom  were  assisted;  while  1,328  visits  to 
the  sick  were  made;  13  departments  registered  672  places  for  room  or  board, 
and  directed  2,261  men  to  them. 

Such  is  the  general  statistical  conspectus  of  the  Young  Men's  Christian 
Association  in  Chicago.  The  advice,  encouragement,  and  salvation  brought 
to  men  through  its  work  are  still  unmeasured. 

The  educational  work  of  the  association  is  designed  especially  for 
students  proper  who  have  a  general  education,  and  for  those  who  are  seek- 
ing educational  help  in  some  present  problem  or  in  fitting  them  for  some 
special  service.  These  latter  constitute  the  great  majority  of  the  members 
of  the  association  classes.  The  educational  work  is,  therefore,  in  no  way 
designed  to  take  the  place  of  the  free  pubUc  school,  but  to  supplement  it. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS  II3 

The  sympathetic  and  active  co-operation  with  the  churches  and  the 
organized  charity  and  reUef  associations  indicates  a  large  degree  of  effective 
community-consciousness  on  the  part  of  the  association,  at  least  so  far  as 
young  men  are  concerned. 

The  board  of  managers  has  created  a  department  of  AffiUated  Move- 
ments in  the  hope  of  securing  the  co-operation  of  men's  clubs,  Bible  classes, 
social  settlements,  and  other  work  organized  for  the  betterment  of  young 
men.  Such  a  department  is  a  recognition  of  the  essential  unity  of  all  the 
agencies  in  the  city  that  make  for  the  better  Ufe  of  young  men.  The  effec- 
tiveness of  this  co-operation  is  yet  to  be  demonstrated  and  the  evidence  of 
the  larger  community-interest  of  which  the  work  for  young  men  is  one  part  is 
not  yet  very  convincing.  Division  of  labor  must  be  the  method,  but  com- 
munity-perspective must  be  the  view-point. 

5.  The  Volunteers  of  America  have  their  headquarters  for  the  North 
West  Territory  in  Chicago.  They  do  both  reUgious  and  relief  work. 
Christmas  dinners  and  the  newsboys  and  waifs'  picnic  are  among  their 
special  charities.  There  are  in  Chicago  about  200  officers  and  workers, 
four  posts,  missions,  or  Sunday  schools,  and  six  philanthropic  centers. 
The  corps  of  workers  hold  gospel  services  every  evening  of  the  week  at  the 
missions.  ■■■"-. 

The  reUef  departments  assist  with  money  and  goods  poor  families  and 
those  evicted  for  non-payment  of  rent;  an  employment  agency  and  dispen- 
sary are  maintained  free;  summer  outings  for  children  and  a  summer  camp 
for  poor  mothers  from  the  slums  are  supported  free  to  the  recipients.  The 
Volunteers  also  furnish  a  reading-room  and  assist  in  the  support  of  cheap 
homes  for  working-women  and  workingmen.  They  maintain  a  sewing 
school  for  poor  mothers  during  five  months  of  the  year. 

The  Volunteers  co-operate  with  all  the  churches,  but  are  non-sectarian. 

6.  The  medical  missions  and  allied  charities  consist  of  the  Chicago 
Branch  Sanitarium,  the  Life  Boat  Mission,  the  Life  Boat  Rest  for  Girls,  the 
Life  Boat  Rest  Suburban  Home,  the  American  Medical  Missionary  Dis- 
pensary, the  North  Side  Treatment  Rooms,  and  a  Workingmen's  Home. 
These  institutions  are  associated  with  the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium,  Battle 
Creek,  Mich.,  and  are  at  their  center  mission  work  carried  on  by  the 
Adventists. 

The  Life  Boat  Mission  and  the  Life  Boat  Rest  for  Girls  are  first  of  all 
missions,  while  at  all  the  institutions  religious  services  are  regularly  held. 
Some  charity  characterizes  the  work  at  each  center.  The  dispensaries 
and  Workingmen's  Home  are  self-supporting,  but  funds  are  soUcited  from 
the  public  for  the  support  of  the  missions. 


•V*  V  *•*. ,  J  »  ill|J»T^l'P*J»W-r  '"T  • 


y-¥.;.wu^<i,^i  ivjiiurf^iijiiuu  ^  .J*vivr^9^P«pip^qpipipi|iqF^Pi^«mvi^ 


114 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


7.  TAe  Salvation  Army  combines  charity  and  relief  work  with  its 
evangelistic  work.  It  operates  in  Chicago  12  English-speaking  corps,  6 
Swedish  corps,  2  Norwegian  corps,  i  German  corps,  and  3  slum  posts. 
During  the  year  1903  these  workers  conducted  4,160  open-air  meetings, 
attended  by  200,000  people;  also  7,000  meetings  in  the  several  halls  of  the 
army,  which  were  attended  by  500,000  people.  No  fewer  than  1,800  per- 
sons professed  conversion  under  the  instruction  of  the  army.  I 

The  army  also  operates  in  Chicago  6  workingmen's  hotels,  i  working- 
women's  hotel,  I  home  for  fallen  girls,  i  maternity  hospital  (recently  opened), 
I  industrial  home,  i  slum  nursery,  i  bureau  for  tracing  missing  relatives 
and  friends,  2  training  schools,  and  5  salvage  stores.  It  has  150  persons 
engaged  in  relief  work  among  the  poor  of  Chicago.  I 

The  hotels  for  workingmen  and  working-women  are  almost  self- 
supporting,  but  do  a  large  amount  of  free  work.  About  1,000  men  and 
women  are  cared  for  each  night  in  these  7  hotels.  During  the  past  year  1,000 
tons  of  paper,  rags,  and  waste  material  were  handled  in  the  industrial  home 
by  men  who  were  out  of  employment,  but  who  were  thus  enabled  to  earn  a 
living  until  regular  employment  could  be  found.  The  5  salvage  stores 
handled  more  than  1 50,000  articles  of  clothing  and  furniture.  These  articles 
are  all  donated  by  friends,  collected  by  the  5  salvage  wagons  of  the  army, 
and  distributed  among  the  poor  at  a  very  small  cost.  It  is  believed  that 
80  per  cent,  of  the  65  girls  who  passed  through  the  rescue  home  have  been 
restored  to  lives  of  virtue.  There  are  maintained  on  the  West  Side  a  home 
for  young  men  and  one  for  young  women,  where  about  50  students  are 
being  trained  for  active  service  among  the  poor  in  large  cities.  In  addition 
to  this  indoor  work,  the  army  suppUed  20,000  poor  people  with  coal  during 
the  winter  of  1902-3,  and  gave  about  2,000  Christmas  baskets,  each  con- 
taining sufficient  food  for  a  family  of  five  persons.  During  the  following 
summer  outings  were  given  to  more  than  2,000  slum  mothers  and  children. 

The  Salvation  Army  has  its  work  systematized  and  ministers  to  its 
clientele  in  a  most  eflfective  manner,  striving  to  relieve  distress,  to  help 
able-bodied  persons  to  help  themselves,  to  discourage  pauperism,  and  to 
present  Christianity  to  all  who  will  hear.  It  solicits  and  receives  from  the 
pubUc  a  large  amount  of  money  and  provisions,  all  of  which  are  judiciously 
used  and  carefuUy  accounted  for. 

8.  Churches  and  Sunday  schools. — It  has  been  impossible  to  get  ade- 
quate or  accurate  statistics  concerning  the  churches  of  Chicago.  There 
is  no  central  clearing-house  for  information  concerning  them.  So  far  as  I 
have  been  able  to  learn,  no  church  authority  has  been  able  to  compile  the 
statistics  of  church  membership  except  through  estimates  based  upon  the 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS 


"5 


number  of  churches  reported  in  the  city  directory,  and  the  Sunday-school 
membership  as  reported  by  the  Cook  County  Sunday  School  Association, 
using  the  ratio  of  church  membership  to  Simday-school  membership 
given  by  four  denominations  that  keep  the  completer  statistics.  It  is  not 
possible  to  get  statistics  of  property  values,  except  in  few  cases,  of  attend- 
ance by  session  or  by  sex,  of  net  increase  or  decrease  in  membership,  of 
benevolent  collections  or  other  charity.  With  one  or  two  exceptions,  no 
statistics  are  obtainable  concerning  the  yoimg  people's  societies.  With  no 
clearing-house  for  information,  and  with  incomplete  statistics  kept  in  non- 
uniform ways  by  some  and  not  at  all  by  other  denominations,  any  statistical 
statement  concerning  the  churches  of  Chicago  must  be  taken  as  only  an 
approximation. 

The  following  table  shows  the  denominational  strength  in  Chicago  in 
1902: 


Church 


Adventist 

Baptist 

Christian 

Dunkard 

Congregational 

Episcopal 

Evangelistic  Association. . . 

Episcopal  Reformed 

German  Evangelical 

Greek 

Lutheran 

Methodist  Episcopal 

Methodist,  Free 

Presbyterian,  Cumberland 

Presbyterian 

Presbyterian,  United 

Reformed  Churches 

Swedish  Mission 

Swedenborgian 

United  Evangelical 

Union  Evangelical 

Latter  Day  Saints 

Miscellaneous 

Total 


Number' 


641 


Members 


6 

425* 

74 

20,976 

19 

2,70O» 

I 

95" 

79 

14,625 

41 

7,8oo» 

12 

3.6so» 

7 

2,200» 

24 

io,5oo» 

2 

150* 

97 

3^.500' 

138 

27,500 

9 

850' 

8 

1,425' 

51 

16,505 

7 

1,32s' 

19 

2,35°' 

17 

950* 

5 

450' 

6 

1.350* 

5 

2,250« 

2 

150* 

12 

1,650' 

157,376 


There  are  also  4  Christian  Science,  10  Christian  Catholic  Church  of 
Zion,  4  Unitarian,  4  Universalist,  27  Jewish,  and  134  CathoUc  churches  in 
Chicago;  Except  for  the  CathoUc  churches,  which  report  a  Catholic  popu- 
lation of  one  million  for  the  archdiocese  of  Chicago,^  there  are  no  collected 
statistics  for  these  churches  available. 


'  City  directory,  1902. 

*  Estimated  from  the  Sunday-school  statistics. 


'  Catholic  Directory,  1903. 


L 


^"Tli..'(-"'.  ^*:T-!'^'"^...  -u    •■"■'SP!fl"f'!P* 


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ii6 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


Based  on  the  school  census  of  1902  of  2,144,000,  there  is  one  church  to 
every  2,600  inhabitants.  | 

The  Sunday-school  statistics  for  Chicago  are  much  more  complete  than 
those  of  the  churches.  The  following  table,  compiled  from  the  report  of 
the  Cook  County  Sunday  School  Association,  is  based  on  reports  for  the 
year  1902  and  shows  the  chief  statistical  facts  concerning  the  Sunday 
schools  within  the  city.  | 


Denomination 


ja 

u 

(/] 

"0 

d 


s-s 
tag 

OH 

^« 


s 

1(3 


Si 


l-s 

1 

ftiU 

62 

c4 

z.a 

" 

483 

662 

127 

63 

371 

S88 

II 

31 

32 

314 

8 

552 

191 

333 

927 

1,420 

660 

589 

14 

132 

73 

33 

4b 

20 

13 

8 

... 

S03 

277 

4.4S3 

4,017 

o  t> 

KG 


n 


Bapitist 

Christian 

Congregational 

Episcopal 

Evangelical  Association 

Evangelical  Synod  of  North 

America 

Lutheran 

Lutheran  Parochial  

Methodist 

Presbyterian  _. •. 

Swedish  Mission 

Reformed 

Reformed  Episcopal 

United  Evangelical 

New  Jerusalem 

Seventh  Day  Adventists 

Unclassified 

Total 


104 
24 
90 
47 
13 

24 
80 
33 
154 
89 
23 
31 

8 
4 

4 

9 

72 

799 


2,333 

20  219 

14,609 

367 

3.679 

3,486 

2,079 

20,178 

14,431 

91 

666 

496 

238 

1,650 

1.454 

696 

7.76s 

6,169 

1.46s 

16,043 

12,432 

132 

8,970 

6,892 

3.846 

35.583 

25.514 

2,404 

22,821 

IS.341 

622 

6,259 

5.103 

410 

4/>86 

3.558 

157 

1.454 

1,087 

97 

1,041 

669 

34 

333 

185 

71 

523 

374 

1.239 

11.571 

8,691 

16,271 

163,730 

119,471 

330 

6s 
248 


274 

1.532 
708 


3i8 
3.607 


$2,529.34 

648.31 

1,889.49 

265.7s 

492.47 
2,535.12 

263.50 
5fl75.S9 
6364.00 

386.60 
1.538. 59 

596. 4X 

104.00 


1.699-34 

$34,878.31 


This  table  shows  that  there  is  one  Sunday  school  to  every  785  persons 
under  twenty-one  years  of  age,'  and  one  school  to  every  2,683  persons. 
One  out  of  every  3.8  persons  who  are  less  than  twenty-one  years  of  age  is  a 
Sunday-school  scholar,  and  one  out  of  every  13  of  the  total  population. 
One  out  of  11.8  persons  is  a  member  of  a  Sunday  school — one  out  of  every 
1 1.3  if  the  members  of  the  Cradle  Roll  and  Home  Departments  are  included. 
There  is  one  Sunday-school  teacher  to  every  ten  pupils  enrolled. 

It  may  be  that  a  layman  should  not  attempt  to  discuss  the  problems  of 
the  churches.  I  shall  not  attempt,  therefore,  to  do  more  than  suggest 
some  things  as  they  have  appeared  in  this  study. 

Within  the  city  of  Chicago,  and  among  the  denominations  whose  work 
I  have  had  best  opportunity  to  study,  there  have  been  different  experiences 
as  to  the  gain  in  membership.  There  is  evident,  however,  a  serious  concern 
over  this  interest  of  the  church.  Whatever  complete  statistics  might  show, 
were  they  kept  and  brought  together,  it  is  very  plain  that  the  manifold 
activities  of  the  churches,  Sunday  schools,  and  missions  cannot  be  reported 

'  School  census  of  1903  reports  627,363  persons  under  twenty-one  years  of  age. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS  II 7 

in  the  simpler  statistics  of  the  earlier  chvirch  history.  It  may  be  that  the 
"spiritual  condition"  of  the  churches  is  not  told  by  reciting  the  number  of 
* '  conversions ' '  or  the  number  of ' '  baptisms. "  It  is  quite  probable  that  the 
spiritual  fruit  of  the  classes  and  clubs,  of  the  reading-rooms  and  savings 
banks,  of  the  gymnasium  and  employment  bureau,  cannot  be  measured 
by  the  reUgious  standard  of  a  century  ago. 

A  brief  review  of  the  social  conditions  in  a  great  city  will  serve  to  set 
forth  the  diflSculty  and  the  importance  of  the  church  work.  The  very 
presence  of  great  numbers,  their  belonging  to  many  races  and  religions,  the 
increased  coming  of  large  numbers  from  the  rural  districts,  the  increasing 
homelessness  and  childlessness  of  the  people,  the  namelessness  and  imper- 
sonaUty  of  city  life,  the  constant  moving  about  from  one  neighborhood  to 
another,  the  closely  drawn  lines  between  class  and  class,  the  nervous  tension 
of  the  population  and  the  abundance  of  other  attractions — all  these  make 
the  problem  a  difficult  one.  The  importance  of  the  questions  involved  in 
these  conditions,  together  with  the  increasingly  large  r61e  played  by  the 
great  cities  in  the  life  of  the  nation  and  its  civilization,  indicates  how  vital 
is  the  correct  solution.  The  reUgious  frontiers  of  the  nation  are  no  longer 
the  sparsely  settled  country  districts,  but  the  densely  populated  urban  com- 
munities. 

These  conditions,  supplemented  by  the  demands  of  a  practical  age  that 
religion  must  demonstrate  its  practicability,  have  contributed  to  the  develop- 
ment of  institutional  church  work.  The  recognition  of  the  close  dependence 
of  the  spiritual  upon  the  physical  welfare  has  likewise  been  a  factor  in  the 
inauguration  of  the  day  nursery,  the  kindergarten,  classes  in  domestic 
science  and  civics,  clubs  and  reading-rooms,  penny  savings  banks,  employ- 
ment bureaus,  gymnasiums  and  cadet  drills,  free  dispensaries  and  bureaus 
of  justice,  in  connection  with  some  of  the  churches  in  the  crowded  or  factory 
districts. 

It  would  be  very  interesting  to  know  whether  religious  instruction  is 
carried  on  in  the  home  as  much  as  formerly.  We  have  seen  that  the  work 
of  teaching  in  school  subjects  is  being  more  and  more  given  over  to  the  nurs- 
ery, kindergarten,  and  pubKc  school.  We  have  likewise  been  impressed 
with  the  changing  character  of  the  home  under  changed  industrial  conditions, 
and  it  may  be  a  pertinent  question  to  ask  what  eflfect  these  changed  home 
conditions,  on  the  one  hand,  are  having  on  the  religious  instruction  of  chil- 
dren, and  what  effect  the  new  church  activities,  on  the  other  hand,  are  having. 
It  is  well  known  that  the  uncertainty  concerning  religious  teachings  on  the 
part  of  parents  causes  a  hesitancy  in  the  religious  instruction  of  their  chil- 
dren.   There  seems  to  be  some  evidence  of  a  similar  change  to  that  in  the 


■.l.MW»l 


■j(nm.L»iH!jrtiu 


iiiiLi  in  niHiin^.itu  yy  .11  iiiianv«Hi^|*mc^«i^^{if- 


»?.V1«III»W»1J» 


118 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


educational  field,  in  the  Cradle  Rolls  and  the  Home  Departments  of  the 
Sunday  schools,  by  means  of  which  the  church  goes  into  the  home  to  reach 
those  who  are  too  young  to  go  to  the  places  of  meeting  and  those  who  are 
detained  at  home  by  age  or  other  hindrances. 

There  are  many  auxiUary  church  societies,  and  their  work  is  invalu- 
able. All  of  these  are  ^denominational  in  their  origin  and  largely  in 
their  support.  With  few  exceptions,  however,  they  minister  to  persons 
irrespective  of  religious  beUef  or  church  afiBliation.  These  societies  take 
the  form  of  missionary  and  aid  societies,  leagues,  and  councils.  The  first- 
named  aid  needy  churdhes  and  Sunday  schools.  The  aid  societies  provide 
relief  for  individual  families,  support  special  church  enterprises,  and  con- 
tribute to  the  various  charities  of  the  city.  The  leagues  and  coimcils  do  a 
large  amount  of  personal  service,  contribute  to  the  work  of  settlements  and 
kindred  lines  of  work,  and  assist  in  the  city  charities.  Besides  these  auxiliary 
societies,  many  denominations  have  a  ministerial  union  which  usually 
meets  weekly  for  purposes  of  counsel. 

Denominational  lines  have  kept  the  church  life  of  the  city  as  a  whole 
from  the  organization  of  any  central  representative  body  of  counsel  or  bureau 
of  information.  It  may  be  that  such  a  central  council  is  impossible  under 
present  religious  conditions,  but  it  is  not  quite  clear  that  the  bureau  of 
information  is  not  feasible  and  greatly  to  be  desired.  True  to  her  traditions 
of  conservatism,  the  church  is  not  abreast  of  the  centralizing,  co-operating 
spirit  of  the  age.  Union  of  churches  is  not  being  argued  for,  but  a  com- 
munity-perspective of  the  religious  interests.  Division  of  labor  seems 
necessary,  but  the  most  comprehensive  outlook  is  greatly  desired  in  the 
interest  of  intelligent  planning,  sympathetic  appreciation,  and  harmonious 
action. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  know  what  philanthropic  work  the  churches 
do  outside  of  their  regular  benevolent  collections.  In  the  charity  records* 
of  the  city  we  find  many  cases  of  reUef  or  co-operation  with  the  charitable 
societies  accredited  to  the  churches.  It  is  probably  a  characteristic  of 
church  charity  that  its  alms  should  not  be  seen  of  man.  It  is  also  regarded 
consistent  with  this  spirit  that  the  church  should  give  without  waiting  for 
a  careful  investigation  of  the  worthiness  of  the  applicant.  It  is  claimed, 
and  often  truly,  that  the  church  knows  the  need  of  those  to  whom  it  would 
minister;  for  they  are  usually  of  its  own  parish.  It  is  claimed  that  the  harm 
of  giving  to  the  unworthy  may  not  be  greater  than  the  good  done  to  the 
giver.  That  it  is  more  blesesd  to  give  than  to  receive  should  not,  however, 
be  interpreted  to  encourage  indiscriminate  giving;  else  this  beautiful  truth 

'  See  p.  79,  footnote. 


THE  RELIGIOUS  INTERESTS  II9 

become  a  vulgarism.  There  is  in  truth,  and  should  be  in  practice,  no  con- 
flict between  the  genuine  scientific  charity  and  genuine  church  charity. 
There  is  seeming  conflict  when  the  intellect  is  emphasized  at  the  expense 
of  the  emotions  in  the  former,  and  the  emotions  are  emphasized  at  the 
expense  of  the  intellect  in  the  latter.  Fulness  of  expression  of  the  whole 
self  in  the  largest  situation  the  person  can  take  into  account  wovdd  furnish 
an  equally  good  guide  to  both  the  workers. 


■^'•,«v (VTW^ir.  <i'^-*'.'|^  •'' 


CHAPTER  XII. 

GENERAL  SUMMARY  AND  SOME  SUGGESTIONS  ON 
SOCIAL  THEORY. 

Such  is  the  higher  life  of  Chicago:  the  educational  interests  represented 
by  the  public  schools  and  their  supplementary  agencies,  the  special  and 
professional  schools  and  colleges,  and  the  university;  the  social  and  moral 
interests  embodied  in  civic  clubs,  women's  clubs,  social  settlements,  trade 
unions,  and  charities;  the  aesthetic  interests  expressed  in  art  and  music; 
the  religious  interests  working  through  the  Christian  associations,  Sunday 
schools,  churches,  and  auxiliary  societies.  ] 

In  the  study  of  these,  certain  facts  and  tendencies  have  been  pointed 
out.  The  existence  and  importance  of  voluntary  associations;  the  increased 
dififerentiation  of  public-school  children ;  the  large  number  of  kindergartens 
and  day,  nurseries;  the  increased  use  of  the  public-school  buildings  for 
evening  classes  and  lectures;  the  tendency  toward  manual,  commercial, 
and  domestic  training;  the  effort  to  bring  the  home  and  the  school  nearer 
together  by  a  changed  curriculum  and  the  organization  of  parents'  clubs, 
are  among  the  more  prominent  in  connection  with  the  educational  interests. 
The  demands  of  a  practical  spirit,  and  of  changed  industrial  conditions 
upon  the  school,  the  home,  the  settlements,  and  the  church,  have  been 
shown  in  the  several  sections.  The  work  of  the  women's  clubs  was  found 
to  be  that  of  the  mother  writ  large,  and  the  natural  result  of  taking  industries 
and  teaching  out  of  the  home.  Voluntary  private  initiative  and  prepara- 
tion for  public  support  and  control  have  been  seen  in  many  cases.  The 
large  role  of  religious,  race,  and  national  feeUng  in  charity  work,  the  prob- 
lem of  the  foreigner  with  special  reference  to  the  social  settlements  and 
the  night  schools,  have  been  commented  upon.  The  degree  of  community- 
consciousness  and  the  examples  of  co-operation  have  been  spoken  of. 

The  inadequacy  of  the  several  groups  of  agencies  has  been  intimated. 
A  lack  of  equipment  for  school  children  who  are  other-than-normal,  defec- 
tive, or  dependent;  the  crowds  who  clamored  for  admission  to  the  vacation 
schools;  the  waiting  lists  for  the  industrial  classes;  the  small  number  of 
night  schools;  the  reduced  appropriation  for  support  of  schools  and  libraries; 
the  need  of  a  larger  number  of  medical  charities  and  homes  for  the  aged; 
the  duplication  of  efforts  to  secure  a  central  bureau  of  information  for  the 
charities;  inadequate  co-operation  among  the  several  agencies  having  a 
given  interest;  a  lack  of  intelligent  grasp,  sympathetic  appreciation,  and 

i  ■  120 


SUGGESTIONS   ON  SOCIAL  THEORY 


121 


harmonious  action  on  the  part  of  all  the  community  agencies  and  forces — 
these  indicate  the  greatest  needs  for  a  better  realization  of  the  city's  higher 
life. 

It  is  believed  that  such  an  inventory  of  the  agencies  that  make  for  the 
educational,  social,  moral,  aesthetic,  and  religious  betterment  of  Chicago 
gives  occasion  for  encouragement,  and  it  is  hoped  that  this  conspectus  may 
be  of  some  service  in  realizing  the  better  city. 

Certain  questions  have  from  time  to  time  been  raised  in  this  study  that 
belong  to  a  study  in  general  social  theory.  The  essential  unity  of  all  the 
community  interests  has  often  been  declared.  The  relation  of  the  individual 
to  his  group  and  of  voluntary  to  municipal  effort  has  been  brought  up.  It 
has  been  pointed  out  that  different  moral  standards  prevail.  These  and 
kindred  topics  call  for  a  little  further  discussion. 

For  purposes  of  the  study  of  the  higher  life,  the  health  and  wealth 
interests  were  assumed  as  given,  and  the  educational,  social,  moral,  aesthetic, 
and  religious  interests  were  studied.  For  purposes  of  general  social  theory, 
we  desire  to  include  the  former  also.  As  there  is  a  unity  between  the 
physical  and  spiritual  life  of  the  individual,  so  there  is  a  unity  between  the 
material  and  spiritual  life  of  society.  There  are,  however,  two  ways  of 
conceiving  this  unity.  In  the  case  of  the  individual,  some  regard  the  physi- 
cal and  the  spiritual,  or  the  body  and  the  mind,  as  given  separate,  and  the 
individual  is  regarded  as  the  bringing  together  of  the  two;  the  individual  is 
a  unity  made  by  combining  disparate  elements.  So,  too,  some  conceive 
the  conscious  life  of  the  individual  as  made  up  by  combining  the  intellect, 
the  emotions,  and  the  will;  conceive  it  as  a  product  of  disparate  things. 
The  individual  is,  however,  a  unit  which  we  resolve  into  the  physical  and 
the  spiritual.  The  unity  is  the  existental  reality,  and  the  parts  are  abstrac- 
tions for  purposes  of  observation  and  description.  The  so-called  tripartite 
— or  even  the  bipartite — division  of  the  conscious  life  into  intellect,  emotions, 
and  will  has  too  often  been  regarded  as  a  conscious  life  made  up  by  combin- 
ing the  intellect,  emotions,  and  will;  whereas  these  three  are  divisions  made 
on  reflection.  The  real  consciousness  is  a  unity  which  on  reflection  may 
be  divided  into  intellect,  emotions,  and  will,  but  which  is  not  obtained  by 
uniting  intellect,  emotions,  and  will;  not  that  consciousness  is  a  union  of 
the  three,  but  that  it  is  a  unity  which  may  be  resolved  into  the  three. 

In  the  case  of  society,  the  unity  of  the  individual  and  his  group,  or  of 
the  interests  of  society,  is  not  a  unity  made  by  combining  the  individual 
and  the  group  as  given  and  separate,  nor  the  balancing  of  the  material  and 
spiritual  interests  to  get  a  harmonious  whole.  The  essential  unity  in  society 
is  not  a  result  of  bringing  disparate  things  together;  it  is  a  given  unity  which. 


1  wifiv  w.**.™"'!  i  piiivinq|p^«f|;n|^p|np||||pnQp||^|fp>v>«(^f^i9i,H}_i  ;,> 


122 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


on  observation  may  be  resolved  into  the  individual  and  the  group.  The 
individual  and  the  group  are  not  given  and  then  combined  to  give  the  social 
unity,  but  a  social  unity  is  given  which  for  purposes  of  description  is  resolved 
into  the  individual  and  the  group.  The  individual  is  an  abstraction  from 
the  unity  which  in  reaUty  includes  him  and  the  rest  of  the  group. 

Certain  social  philosophers  have  regarded  society  as  made  up  of  so 
many  discrete  individuals.  Mr.  Spencer  seems  to  have  had  this  conception. 
He  likened  society  to  a  pile  of  cannon  balls  whose  shape  and  properties  are 
determined  by  the  shape  and  properties  of  the  balls.  The  balls  were  given 
separately  and  then  brought  together  to  form  the  pile.  So  the  individuals 
were  conceived  as  given  and  then  brought  together  to  form  society.  Such 
a  conception  rests  on  the  unreal  assumption  of  such  an  abstracted  individual- 
Mr.  Spencer's  social  problems  became  problems  of  how  to  adjust  the  indi- 
vidual to  the  several  forms  of  society,  became  the  question  of  the  interference 
of  the  state  with  the  rights  of  the  individual. 

If  Mr.  Spencer  had  conceived  of  the  essential  unity  of  society  which  falls 
apart  into  individuals  and  the  group,  e.  g.,  the  state,  only  on  reflection,  his 
problems  would  not  have  been  those  of  suppressing  either  the  individvial 
or  the  state,  but  would  have  been  questions  of  the  fullest  expression  of  both. 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Gumplowicz  makes  the  group  as  set  over 
against  the  individual  the  great  factor.  He  conceives  the  group  as  given 
and  the  individual  as  derived.  His  problem,  therefore,  became  one  of 
adjustment  of  the  individual  to  the  group.  Questions  of  value  for  both 
him  and  Mr.  Spencer  became  comparative  questions — balances  between  the 
individual  and  the  group.  The  unity  they  saw  in  society  was  a  unity  derived 
from  the  bringing  together  of  the  individual  and  the  group.  They  mistook 
thought-abstractions  for  given  elements,  and  could  not  solve  the  puzzle 
of  putting  them  together  so  they  would  stay  put.  The  individual  and  the 
rest-of-the-group  are  alike  abstraction,  and  the  problem  of  bringing  them 
together  is  self-made.  They  exist  only  together.  Instead  of  questions  of 
balance,  of  infringement,  or  of  suppression,  there  are  presented  questions 
of  fulness  of  growth  and  expression.  The  problem  of  whether  the  interests 
of  the  individual  and  society  are  one  belongs  to  a  falsely  conceived  unity, 
for  in  reality  they  do  not  exist  apart.  | 

Such  we  believe  to  be  the  unity  that  underlies  the  health,  wealth,  social, 
moral,  aesthetic,  and  reUgious  interests  of  any  community.  Such  a  classifi- 
cation is  a  thought-product  and  has  value.  But  too  often  conceptual 
discreteness  has  been  substituted  for  existental  unity.  A  methodological 
device  has  been  mistaken  for  the  reaUty;  the  means  has  been  substituted 
for  the  end.    No  attempt  at  putting  together  these  several  interests  in  any 


'  SUGGESTIONS  ON  SOCIAL  THEORY  1 23 

ratio  of  combination  is  likely  to  give  a  permanent  solution.  Their  unity 
is  not  the  result  of  thinking,  but  is  the  reality  that  the  commimity  lives. 
Questions  of  value  are  not  how  to  combine  them,  but  how  to  allow  them 
all  their  fullest  expression. 

In  the  Kght  of  this  discussion,  the  question  of  individual  or  voluntary 
society  initiative  and  public  control  becomes  easy  to  answer.  They  are 
not  two  entirely  different  things.  The  individual  or  the  voluntary  society 
is  a  part  of  the  unity  of  the  community.  Their  work  represents  one  stage 
in  making  habitual  those  variations  that  arise  with  changing  conditions. 
The  voluntary  support  of  kindergartens  vmtil  they  are  taken  into  the  public 
schools  is  not  to  be  conceived  as  the  work  of  the  individual  as  set  over 
against  the  work  of  society.  The  kindergarten  movement  is  society  react- 
ing to  new  conditions,  is  a  variation  that  must  be  taken  account  of;  and  the 
individuals  who  take  the  first  interest  in  the  movement  are  no  less  a  part  of 
society  than  those  who,  taking  no  part  in  the  kindergartens,  may  be  direct- 
ing the  state  care  of  the  defectives  or  the  municipal  lodging  of  homeless 
men.  It  is  no  less  and  no  more  praiseworthy  to  do  the  one  than  the  other; 
the  failure  is  in  not  doing,  or  not  doing  well. 

The  receiver  of  charity  misjudges  the  one  who  gives;  the  labor  imion  and 
the  church  cannot  agree;  scientific  and  chiurch  charity  have  different  stand- 
ards. The  plane  on  which  these  can  agree  is  not  that  of  a  constructed 
unity  through  a  process  of  suppression  and  balancing,  but  that  of  a  given 
existental  unity.  From  this  plane,  fulness  of  expression  of  all  the  commun- 
ity-interest will  give  the  socialized  act.  Not  that  conflict  will  not  arise,  but 
a  failure  to  know  its  meaning  and  to  resolve  it  correctiy  causes  the  term 
"unsocial"  or  "immoral"  to  attach  to  the  variations  or  conflicts  which  are 
the  conditions  of  progress. 

When  all  the  interests  of  the  community  are  considered  certain  proposi- 
tions present  themselves.  There  is  nothing  fixed.  All  is  change.  Life 
is  always  active.  The  health,  wealth,  social,  moral,  aesthetic,  and  reUgioxis 
interests  are  products  of  an  analysis  of  the  social  process  rather  than  given 
separate  interests  to  be  synthesized  into  the  social  process.  Society  is 
unitary  rather  than  unified.  There  seems  no  warrant  for  positing  any 
fixed  goal.  ReaUty  is  ceaseless  activity.  It  is  a  non  sequitur  to  set  up  a 
fixed  goal.  Questions  of  value  are  not  degrees  of  approach  to  some  concep- 
tual static  ideal,  but  must  have  their  worth  determined  by  the  part  they  play 
as  the  life  goes  on.  The  questions  that  are  worth  while  are  not  those  of  the 
comparative  value  of  any  two  terms  in  the  health,  wealth,  sociability,  knowl- 
edge, beauty,  and  rightness  series,  but  how  to  make  each  and  all  of  these 
interests  contribute  to  furthering  the  life-process.  Problems  of  society 
are  not  to  be  stated  in  or  solved  by  equations,  but  by  progressions. 


ui  >  I  «i<if ^Pi.ji  I  ■  ajpi  Bi^napgir- 


PART  IV 

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INDEX. 


^Esthetic  Interests  of  Chicago,  gs-ios  (sec  Table 

of  Contents). 
Aged,  care  of  the,  84-,  Appendix,  Table  III. 
Apollo  Musical  Club,  104. 
Armour  Institute  of  Technology,  43. 
Art  in  Chicago,  appreciation  of,  95,  96. 
Art  Institute,  100-103. 
Associated  Jewish  Charities,  82,  83.  ~    . 

Benefit  features  of  trade  unions,  75,  76. 
Bill  Boards,  Committee  on,  98,  99. 
Blind  (see  Defectives). 
Boulevards  (see  Playgrounds). 
Bureau  of  Charities,  Chicago,  79-Si. 

Canal,  Chicago  DrEiinage,  11. 
Care  of  the  aged,  84;  Appendix,  Table  III. 
Care  of  children,  84;  Appendix,  Table  III. 
Central  Department  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  no,  ni. 
Charities,  78-87  (seeTableofContente);  Appendix, 

Table  UI. 
Charity,  trade  tmions  and,  74. 
Chicago  Bureau  of  Charities,  79-81. 
Chicago  Daiiy  News  Free  Lecture  Course,  28. 
Chicago  Drainage  Canal,  11. 
Chicago  Flower  Mission,  31. 
Chicago,  growth  of,  II,  la. 
Chicago  Historical  Society  and  Library,  43. 
Chicago  Kindergarten  Club,  23. 
Chicago  Law  Institute  and  Library,  43. 
Chicago  Orchestra,  104,  105. 
Chicago  Public  Library,  37-9.- 
Chicago  Public  School  Art  Society,  97. 
Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society,  81,  82. 
Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  library  of  the,  43, 

43- 
Chicago  Woman's  Club,  30,  ss;  Appendix,  Table  I. 
Children,  care  of,  84;  Appendix,  Table  III. 

Child  Study,  Department  of  Scientific  Pedagogy 
and,  21,  22. 

Churches  and  Sunday  schools,  1 14-19;  and 
charity,  118,  119;  and  trade  unions,  76. 

Citizens'  Association  of  Chicago,  49,  50. 

City  Art  Commission,  96. 

City  Club  of  Chicago,  53,  54. 

Civic  associations,  49-54  (see  Table  of  (Contents). 

Civic  Federation  of  Chicago,  30,  so,  51. 

Civil  Service  Reform  Association  of  Chicago,  53. 

Colleges  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  Jimior  and 
Senior,  35. 

Commercial  studies,  31,  32. 

Community  consciousness,  meaning  of,  13;  among 
the  libraries,  43,  44;  by  the  Chicago  Bureau  of 
Charities,  81. 

Co-operation,  among  the  social  settlements,  66,  67; 
by  trade  unions,  77;  by  the  Chicago  Bureau  of 
Charities,  81;  among  the  charities,  87-89;  among 
the  aesthetic  interests,  102,  103;  by  the  Y.  M.  C. 
A.,  113;  among  the  churches,  118. 


Crerar  Library,  John,  40,  41. 
Crippled  children  (see  Defectives). 
Cultural  and  Economic  Interests,  13. 

Daily  Nrws  Free  Lecture  Course,  Chicago,  28. 

Day  nurseries,  23,  24. 

Deaf  (see  Defectives). 

Defectives — blind,  deaf,  crippled — provision  for, 
by  the  public  schools  and  volimtary  societies, 
24,  25,  30,  31;  charitable  care  of,  84,  85. 

Department  of  Scientific  Pedagogy  and  Child 
Study,  31,  22. 

Drunkenness,  and  trade  vmions,  73,  74. 

Economic  and  Cultural  Interests,  13. 
Employment  bureaus,  of  the  Chicago  Relief  and 

Aid  Society,  82;  of  the  United  Hebrew  Charities, 

83;  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  in,  112;  Appendix 

Table  III. 
Evening  schools,  27,  38;  in  social  settlements,  61; 

in  Y.  M.  C.  A.  departments,  110-12. 
Exhibition    Ommittee    of    the    Municipal    Art 

League,  99,  100. 
Extension  Department  of  the  University  of  Chicago 

34- 

Field  Columbian  Museum,  32,  33. 
Flower  Mission,  Chicago,  31. 

Growth  of  Chicago,  II. 

Hebrew  Charities,  United,  83.  - 

Household  arts,  in  the  public  sdiools,  31,  33. 

Illinois  Civil  Service  Association,  53. 

Illinois  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union 

107. 
Im{»'Ovement  clubs,  14. 

Information,  Department  of,  the  Chicago  Bureau 
of  Charities,  81;  the  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid 
Society,  82. 

Interests,  Economic  and  Cultural,  13. 

Jewish  Charities,  Associated,  82,  83. 
John  Crerar  Library,  40,  41. 
John  Worthy  School,  25.  •     - 

Juvenile  Court,  36,  27. 

Kindergarten  Club,  Chicago,  23. 

Lake  Front  Improvement,  Committee  on,  98. 

Law  and  Order  League,  54. 

Lectures,  in  public-school  buildings,  28;  in  social 
settlements,  60. 

Legal-aid  societies,  85;  Appendix,  Table  ni. 

Legislative  Voters'  League,  52,  53. 

Libraries  of  Chicago,  37-44  (see  Table  of  Con- 
tents). 

Library  of  the  Armour  Institute  of  Technology,  43. 

Library  of  the  Chicago  Theological  Seminary,  43. 
43- 

Library  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  35. 

Library  of  the  Western  Theological  Seminary,  43. 


13s 


«M>kPl"M  L  i^iqp^pipipiin^p^pi 


136 


THE  HIGHER  LIFE  OF  CHICAGO 


Manual  training,  household  arts,  commcTcial 
studies,  31,  32. 

Medical  charities,  84;  Appendix,  Table  III. 

Medical  missions  and  allied  charities,  113. 

Merchants'  Club,  28,  29,  S3- 

Morally  imperiled  and  delinquent  children,  pro- 
vision for,  25-27. 

Municipal  Art  Gallery  of  Chicago,  100. 
Municipal  Art  League  of  Chicago,  97-9. 
Municipal  Lecture  Association,  54. 
Municipal  Voters'  League,  51,  52. 
Museum,  Field  Columbian,  32,  33;  of  the  Art  In- 
stitute, 99,  100. 
Musical  societies,  103-5. 

Newberry  Library,  41,  42. 
Night  schools,  27,  28. 

Outings,  by  the  social  settlements,  63;  by  the  Chi- 
cago Bureau  of  Charities,  80. 


Papers  published  in  Chicago,  44, 45. 
Parental  School,  25.  --•;- 

Parents'  clubs,  29. 

Park  Commission,  Special,  14.   ~  ~ 
Parks  (see  Playgrounds). 


'..ib 


Salvation  Army,  114. 

Schools  of  Chicago,  19-36. 

School  of  Education  of  the  University  of  Chicago, 

34.  35- 
Scientific  Pedagogy  and  Child  Study,  Department 

of,  21,  22. 
Settlements  (see  Social  settlements). 
Shelters  and  rescue  homes,  84;  Appendix,  Table 

Smoke  Prevention,  Committee  on,  99.  I 

Social  settlements,  58-68  (see  Table  of  Contents); 
Appendix,  Table  II. 

Special  Park  Commission,  14. 

Summer  outings  (see  Outings). 

Summer  School  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  34, 

Sunday  schools  and  churches,  1 14-19. 

Thrift,  encouragement  of,  60. 

Trade  unions,  69-77;  in  politics,  70,  71;  discus- 
sions, 71,  72;  attitude  toward  lawlessness  and 
violence,  72,  73;  and  drunkenness,  73,  74;  and 
longevity,  74;  and  charity,  75;  benefit  features 
■  of,  75,  76;  and  the  churches,  76;  co-operation 
with  other  agencies,  77. 


!_  vj 


1  ^'   193&ni 


nited  Hebrew  Charities,  83. 


Pensions  through  the  Chicago  ^ureftttof^Chjtpties,      University  of  Chicago,  33-36;  Summer  School,  34; 
80.  '> '■i^S  i  1    N  jlExtension  Departme 


Permanent  Vacation  School  and  Playground  Com- 
mittee of  Women's  Clubs,  30. 

Playgrounds,  parks,  and  boulevards,  the  city's 
equipment  of,  14,  15,  30;  in  charge  of  the  soaal 
settlements,  58-60;  Appendix,  Table  II. 

Press  of  Chicago,  44,  45. 

Probation  officers,  26,  27. 

Public  Library  of  Chicago,  37-39. 

Public-school  buildings,  use  of,  in  evenings  and 
siuumer,  27-31. 

Purpose,  scope,  and  method  of  the  book,  12-14. 

Railroad  Departments  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  109,  no. 

Reduction  in  municipal  appropriations,  45. 

Relief  societies,  special,  84;  Appendix,  Table  III. 

Religious  Interests  of  Chicago,^  106-14  (see  Table 
of  Contents). 

Rescue  homes  and  shelters,  84;  Appendix,  Table 


Residents   in 
Table  II. 


social   settlements,    58;   Appendix, 


tment,  34;  School  of  Education, 

34,  35;  libraries,  35;  Junior  and  Senior  Colleges, 

5;P: 

Vacation  School  and  Playground  Committee,  30. 
Vacation  schools,  30. 
Volimteers  of  America,  113. 

Washington  School,  29. 

West  End  Woman's  Club,  29;  Appendix,  Table  I. 

Western  Theological  Seminary,  Library  of  the,  43. 

Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  Illinois, 
107. 

Women's  clubs,  54-57;  Appendix,  Table  I;  activi- 
ties of,  54-56;  sigmficance  of,  56,  57. 

Woodyards  of  the  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society, 
82. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  109-14. 
Young  People's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  107. 
Young  Woman's  Christian  Association,  107-9. 


m 


